Life Happens
by This is My Pipebomb
Summary: Two adults, having to deal with life, as they await the threat of androids in three years time. At least that's what the mystery boy told them. This story starts after B/Y have broken things off, and almost a year has passed since Trunks' appearance.
1. Smile

Going to try out a multi-chapter here! Hope it turns out okay in the end XD

The prompt used was: "Smile".

**Dislaimer: I don't own anything related to Dragonball Z.**

It had been a long day down in the lab, and all she wanted to do was get some sleep. Unfortunately, she knew that was not going to happen as she rolled the blueprints up and tucked them under her arm. She glanced at the clock. "A little past midnight," she told herself. She was hoping to make a quick dash from the downstairs lab up to her room without running into a certain grumpy guest.

Heading up the stairs, she opened the door and looked around. No lights were on and she was thankful for the peace she would get. So, without the threat of getting…threatened…she strolled up to her room, and dropped the blueprints onto the worktable she had set up in her room. "Now to get these finished before morning." At that second her mouth opened up in a large yawn. "Maybe some coffee would help first. Since Mister Grumpy seems to be in bed, I don't have to worry about an argument tonight."

She was happy that she wouldn't run into him, she was in no mood for their normal verbal sparring tonight. 'There is just too much to get done to have that sort of distraction around' she thought as she walked back down to the kitchen to make her coffee. Passing through the living room, she looked out the window to see that the gravity room was definitely shut down for the night. She let out a little sigh of relief before entering the kitchen and turning the light on, only to stop in her tracks. 'I do have shit for luck' she moaned in her head.

His head snapped up at the sudden light. He had felt her moving around, but hoped that she had gone to bed for good. He had been pleasantly surprised when she skipped the kitchen on her way to her room earlier. 'Just my fucking luck' his mind growled. He kept a watchful eye on her as she went to the cabinet and started pulling things out. Realizing that she wasn't going to yell at him, he went back to eating, hoping that she would keep her mouth shut this time.

She felt his eyes boring holes in her back as she grabbed the filters and coffee grounds out the cabinets, but paid him no mind. 'Don't say anything' she mentally pleaded. As she thought that she heard him going back to his feast he had laid out on the table. She blew out a small breath, and finished making her coffee. It would only take five minutes, she could keep her mouth shut that long. As long as he didn't start anything, this would be their most civil interaction since she realized that he wouldn't kill her - not yet at least.

He continued shoveling down his midnight snack, his eyes ever once and again darting to her back. She wasn't even acknowledging his presence, which grated on his nerves, but not enough tonight to care. He heard the thing they all called a coffee machine kick on, and he finally understood. He'd seen her drinking that dark liquid quite a few times when she was lacking sleep.

'Hurry up, stupid machine.' She didn't know how much longer she could keep her mouth shut under his paranoid watch. She could hear him grabbing food off the plates, but after a few handfuls he would stop eating. She could only take a wild guess that he would glance at her in those few seconds of a break. She couldn't really blame him, though, for his paranoid behavior. She watched as the coffee filled her mug, glad that she could get back to her room to finish her work and get to sleep. After her mug was filled to the brim, she carefully picked it up by the handle and blew over the top as she headed out of the kitchen. Feeling his eyes once again on her, she turned her head to confirm her suspicion, and gave him a friendly smile before shutting the lights back off and heading back to her room.


	2. They do More?

Alright, on with the next chapter! The Prompt used for this one was "Lips"

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragonball Z characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

Ever since he'd woken up in the morning, he couldn't get that woman's mocking smile out of his mind. He just _knew _she'd done it to show that she had won their little silent battle last night. He growled to himself as he continued his warm-up routine of one-fingered push ups. 'After I kill Kakkarot, I'm going to enjoy destroying that annoying woman!' A small smirk played on his lips as he thought about ways to torture her after he'd gotten rid of that idiot.

Bulma yawned and stretched as she finally made her from the bed to take a quick shower. "Three hours of sleep and a cold shower sure aren't going to keep me awake during those meetings," she mused as she stepped out of the shower to dry off and get dressed. It was only seven in the morning, but she could hear the GR running as she made her way through the living room to the kitchen. Taking in a deep breath, she could smell the delicious aroma of breakfast and her mouth began to water. "A healthy breakfast and plenty of coffee," her lips mumbled as she entered the kitchen.

"Good morning, honey," came her mother's cheery voice. "Did you have a late night last night, dear?" Her mother turned from her cooking to look at her sleepy daughter.

Bulma blinked a few times, trying to process the words through her foggy brain. She spotted the coffee, fresh and black, just the way she liked it. Finally she remembered that she had been in such a hurry to get away from Vegeta last night that she had not cleaned out the coffee maker. "Sorry, Mom, I wasn't thinking."

Her mother giggled. "I'm sure you were too busy thinking about other things last night." She added a little wink to her words.

Bulma rolled her eyes at her mother. She had no idea what or who her mother thought Vegeta was, but she'd obviously deemed him worthy of her only daughter. Bulma couldn't even recall her mother being this pushy when she'd been with Yamcha…had she? She tried to think back as she grabbed a fresh mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. She shook her head. 'Nope, don't think mom swooned over Yamcha this much, even back in the day.'

She sat her coffee on the table before going back to grab a plate and grab some food from the ever growing pile her mother was stacking. "Now don't take too much, we don't want that poor Vegeta to starve," her mother warned only half serious.

"Mother, are you saying that Vegeta starving is more important than your ONLY daughter's health?" She couldn't believe it. She knew Vegeta was high on her mother's list of people to please, but honestly.

"Oh, I know you can take care of yourself. You know how to do the basics at least. Where as poor little Vegeta would be lost if we left him here by himself. Hm, besides, you and your father are always so busy with work. It's nice to have someone around that I can take care of," her mother supplied.

Bulma was shocked. She hadn't known her mother actually missed being busy in the kitchen or doing laundry, but she shouldn't have been that surprised seeing as her mother had nothing else to really do around the house. "Alright, Mom," she sighed, "I get your point." She took her plate and went back to the table to enjoy her meal.

She had just about finished when their guest walked in. "Good morning, Vegeta," her mother greeted him just as cheerily as she had Bulma. "I'm almost done cooking, but you can go ahead and dig in. Bulma already took her share, so I'm just making a little extra for ya."

Vegeta gave his usual grunt of a response. Taking the serving platter that sat to the side and filling it up, before heading to the table to sit at the opposite end of the female.

"Good morning, Vegeta." Bulma couldn't resist the temptation to finally talk to him. He eyed her over his food and she gave him that same little smile from last night. "Don't overdo that training today, okay? I'll be out at meetings all day, and I hardly got any sleep last night."

That smile, he knew she'd been mocking him last night, and here she was telling him shit he didn't care about wearing it like a trophy. If the GR broke, he'd go find her and drag her ass back to fix it if he felt like it. "Like I give a shit," he said before shoveling food in his mouth.

She huffed and pouted a little. She'd tried to be nice about it. "Fine," she said, dropping her friendly face, "if you break anything today, you're just gonna have to wait. Got it?! I'm not putting up with your shit today!"

"Bulma, dear, language," her mother said without even turning around.

She looked over at the now smirking Vegeta. She huffed again before sticking out her tongue and getting back to her food.

The smirk still planted on his face, he watched as she began to eat again instead of yell. He was quite impressed that she could do more with those lips than throw insults and vulgar comments. His eyes were trained on them as she ate silently.

She looked up, noticing he wasn't eating already. He eyed her a minute longer before finally starting to eat again. 'Something's up with him.' She took another bite and chewed it thoughtfully.

Once again his eyes shifted to her lips, pink and plump. He shook his head. 'Has it been that long?' Yes, it been a while since he'd been around an attractive, clean female of any species. He continued eating, his eyes leaving the pile of food every few seconds just as he'd done last night. Except this time he was staring at her lips instead of her back.

She finished her meal and took her empty plate to wash it off before heading back to the table to grab her mug for a refill. She noticed Vegeta had finished his first plate of breakfast. "Need a refill?" she asked politely.

His eyebrows grew closer together as his eyes narrowed before nodding. 'About time she start serving me properly.' He watched her take his plate to where her mother stood. Watching, he saw her lips move as she said something to the blonde woman.

After filling up his plate, she took it back and set it in front of him, fully expecting him to start digging in. So, when he didn't do anything but stare at her, she was confused.

He hadn't seen her pick up anything other than the food, but his eyes had been too distracted for the most part.

At first she was confused, but as she saw him glance at the plate she finally caught on. 'He's been living here for almost six months and still doesn't trust us,' she sighed to herself. She picked up a piece of the scrambled eggs between her fingers. Making sure his eyes were focused on the food before sticking it in her mouth and chewing. After swallowing, she took her fingers she'd picked up the egg with and used her mouth to clean them.

He was surprised to see her catch on to what he had been thinking, but even more surprised that she obliged his paranoid thoughts. He watched the morsel of food disappear behind those lush lips, giving his spine an invisible jolt. It only made matters worse when he watched her suck on her fingers.

"Satisfied, Prince?" She had a hard time trying not to mock him as she caught his eyes focused on something other than her eyes for once.

He scowled before pushing the plate away. "No, you just ruined my appetite." Truth was, his mind was now curious as to what else those lips of hers could do, especially after the vulgar act she had just displayed for him. He stood up and stormed out of the room, intent on training for as long as it took to get his thoughts away from her.


	3. Where were you?

And on it goes! Prompt was "comfort".

A/N: Had to look up on Google to find out how to treat wounds, so if it seems like I have no idea what I'm talking about, that's why! Anywho, hope you guys enjoy either way :D

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Dragonball Z or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

It had been almost a month since they'd last spoken, well, unless you count Vegeta yelling orders at her and her father speaking. Then after almost destroying the gravity room yet again, he took off without giving himself time to heal. So, Bulma had become quite worried for his physical being as of late, especially since he'd been gone for two weeks. Of course with him not being here, there had been no set backs on their other projects.

She could almost get used this. If only it weren't for her constant worry of the stubborn Saiyan. She hadn't been sleeping well as of late due to stress induced nightmares of what Vegeta was doing out there or that he would come back and be more feral than ever. She shook her head. "I don't know why I let him get so deep in my mind. He's a grown man, a survivor, and hopefully not out there killing civilians." She took a heavy breath. "I'm sure if he was causing harm, I would've heard something by now, seeing as he's supposed to be my responsibility."

She looked over at the clock. "Close enough to five to call it a day," she told herself. It's not like they were backed up like usual, so there wasn't a lot that needed to be done these days. She walked upstairs, stretching. "Get some dinner, take a nice long hot bath, maybe read a book before hitting the sheets," she listed off all the things she'd been wanting to do for months.

It was going on two in the morning and she still couldn't sleep. She'd manage to have a nice dinner with her mother. Then, after relaxing a bit and talking to her mother about all she'd been able to get down in the past month, she headed to her private quarters. She found a book she'd meaning to read all those months ago when Vegeta had first started officially living with them. She ran herself a steaming bath and climbed in, book in hand. Letting her body soak in the warm water for half an hour before climbing into bed and finishing off her book.

That had been three hours ago, and yet here she was staring at the clock like it had something important to tell her. She ground her teeth in frustration before sitting upright and pushing the covers off her body. 'Maybe if I do something, it'll help me fall asleep.' She nodded before heading out of her room and towards the living room. 'A little white noise is a good way to get some sleep…hopefully.' She lay down on the couch, turning the TV to an infomercial and closing her eyes.

She was just about asleep when she heard the backdoor open. She lay motionless, hoping it wasn't a robber or some crazy person.

"Fucking stupid son of a bitch!"

She blinked, she knew that voice, didn't she? She sat up and slid off the couch to give the Saiyan a piece of her mind. Perhaps that's what she needed to get some sleep, somebody to yell at. She stalked to the door, ready to give him hell yet again for leaving without notice. Once she saw him, though, she stopped in her tracks and covered her mouth.

He was standing just inside the door, an arm wrapped around his torso while the other lay limply at his side. His battle suit was torn and chipped in several places, and she could see the blood that covered his body. 'God, I hope that's his blood,' was all she could think as she took him in. "What have you been doing?" she finally asked, although she was afraid of the answer. However, this was her home, and, damn it, she deserved answers.

"What the fuck does it look like I've been doing?" he questioned back. He was already pissed as hell, and having to deal with her was the last thing he needed. He needed to get himself up to his room, get cleaned up, and get some sleep.

She put a hand to her temple and massaged gently. Okay, so he wasn't going to answer her, but she could tell just by looking at him that he needed medical attention. "Well, will at least let me help get your wounds cleaned? Or at the very least let me look at that broken arm." She moved a step toward him, but he removed his arm from around his chest to stop her. The hand he held up was covered in blood, and she looked at the spot he'd been holding to see a deep gash in his armor. 'How the hell did he even make it here?!' She didn't think that any of the Z warriors could manage that.

"I can take care of myself, woman." He used his good arm to fix his other. He grimaced as he popped the bone back into place, but never made a sound.

Bulma quickly turned her head at the sickening wet pop. He was definitely a lot tougher than the other so-called warriors she was used to dealing with. She turned her head back around after clearing it, and looked at him. He had wrapped his arm to hold his side again, and she finally noticed the blood dripping from his fingers. "Okay, mister tough guy, what are you gonna do about that hole in your side?"

He grunted as he looked at her. "Let it heal, what else," he said as if she were stupid. "Now move, I need to clean and get some sleep."

She put her hands on her hips and stood in front of him. Sure he could've easily side stepped her, but she was sure he wasn't up to usual speed and strength to put in the effort…she hoped. "Let me clean you up…."

"What?! No way in hell, woman!"

"Shh," she berated, "don't wake my parents. Now, if you let me clean you up you'll heal faster. Do you usually put any ointment on your cuts and burns?"

"No."

"Okay, well, I have stuff in the lab that can help heal you faster than just running soap and water over those injuries. I guess the big question is: do you trust me enough?"

He finally gave her a once over, noticing her choice of clothing. "If you put some fucking clothes on over your underwear, I'll think about it."

She looked down. She was wearing a pair of booty shorts that stopped high on her thighs and a spaghetti strap tank top. "These are my pajamas, and like you're one to complain about lack of clothing. You don't seem to know what a shirt is half the time," she chastised. "Besides, you're already bleeding all over the rug. Good thing it can just be thrown out! Now, will you come down to the lab or not?" She was tired of playing this game with him. He needed to be checked and cleaned quickly since his Saiyan anatomy was faster at healing than humans, and she didn't need him getting some sort of infection and dying from it.

"Why do you care so much about healing me faster?" He couldn't help his suspicious nature when it came towards humans. Especially when it came towards healing. The only time he'd been "healed" here was when he'd blown the GR up three months ago. The only good thing about passing out after pulling himself out of the rubble was that he didn't have to sit through the torture of "healing hands" or their medicine.

"I care because you are the best chance we have against the androids," she told him.

"Hmph! It's about time you admit that I'm better than that stupid Kakarot."

She turned her back to him, rolling her eyes, but glad that her words had hit home - so to speak. "So are you coming or not? If not I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Fine, but you will do as your told, and if I ask you to _not_ touch, you won't," he told her as he followed her down the hall.

"Fine with me. I just want to make sure you're not going to get an infection. Or that there's internal injuries, judging from that hole you've been covering."

She showed him to the lab, and had him sit down on a table. "If you could take off your armor and the top of your suit, that would be a great help. I have to get the supplies I'll need while you do that." She heard his grunt and was satisfied that he would do as told.

As she collected her needed items, she heard him curse in an unfamiliar language before hearing his armor hit the floor. 'This should be fun!' The satisfied smirk that had covered her lips was now gone. She grabbed some gauze and threw it on her tray before taking it back over to where he sat.

He didn't like this one bit. She was loading up a tray of unknown medicines and supplies to torture him with, he was sure of it. On Frieza's ship it had been the same way. They poked and prodded him until he was even more sore than when he'd walked in. The only good thing about serving under that crazy lizard was the regen tanks. It only took hours to recover from near death.

Finally having a good light source, she looked him over. His body was covered with deep scratches and bruises. "All right, can you raise your arms for me?" she asked politely.

"I already checked for broken ribs," he told her. "The only thing you need to worry about is my side." He leaned on his left arm to give her a better view.

She put on a pair of latex gloves before bending down to get a better view. "Looks like something tired to take a bite out of you, Vegeta!" She traced the "bite mark" with her gloved hand, and noticed the bruise swelling up along the edges of it.

"That's because something did," he replied normally. "That's why I had to come back."

'Leave it to Vegeta to pick on something ten times bigger than he is.' She sighed as she moved away to look at him. "Well, good news is nothing major seems to have got hit. You just got a huge chunk of flesh missing. The only thing we need to do is stop the bleeding and get you wrapped up." She went over to her desk and grabbed her pillow she kept there for emergency sleepovers in the lab. "I need you to lay on your left side, and put this pillow under your side."

He grabbed the pillow from her and did as told. "Okay, now what?"

"You just lay there and I'll handle the rest. Can you do that?" He grunted and rested an arm under his head. "Okay." She turned and grabbed the gauze and some paper towels to press onto the wound. She saw his jaw clench at the sudden pressure of her hands on the injury. "Sorry," she mumbled. She pulled the paper towel away to see it soaked in blood. Taking another wad she pressed again. Pulling it away again, there was less blood. She sighed in relief at how quickly the bleeding had stopped. 'Much faster than a human. Of course a normal human probably wouldn't have survived this type of wound in the first place,' she thought as she pulled the bloodied gloves from her hands.

"Are you actually doing anything to help me heal faster or just being a nuisance?" He watched as she went to one of the sinks with a bucket.

"Could you be a little more patient? I'm going to wash the wound with anti-bacterial soap. Then I'll have to put some disinfectant on it." She made sure to clean her hands thoroughly before filling the bucket and going back to her patient. She continued her duty of cleaning his wound, making sure that he was okay throughout the process.

"Damn it, woman, I'm fine. If you just would've told me what to do I could've done this myself!" She was now drying the throbbing piece of flesh as gently as she could, but it only seemed to irritate him further. "I'm a warrior, not a child," he told her, stopping her hands from patting at the flesh.

"Yes, yes, I know. You're a big tough man that doesn't need a woman's help in any way," she mocked him openly. It was too damn late to be worrying about such trivial matters. She'd been worried about him since he left here! Then he shows up bleeding on her doorstep! She sighed as he jerked his hand back from hers. "The only thing that's left to do is wrap you up. I supposed you can do that yourself, though. Since you don't need my help."

She handed him the roll of gauze and he snatched it from her, getting to his feet. He tried to look menacing, but his drooping eyelids ruined the effect.

"Sit back down before you pass out and hurt yourself further," she told him gently. He growled but once again obeyed. "Is it okay if I clean your deeper cuts after wrapping you?" He didn't seem like he had much energy left, and she was starting to wonder if he'd make it upstairs okay.

"I suppose you don't do a horrible job at healing."

She took that as a yes, and so after wrapping his side, she grabbed a new bucket to fill with fresh water. She cleaned his cuts in the same fashion she'd done with the bite, silent the entire time. She watched his eyelids drop further, and his head jerk up a few times. "Okay, all done. Can you make it up stairs?"

"You are just full of annoying questions tonight, you know that," he told her as he stood on slightly shaky legs.

She couldn't help the small giggle that passed her lips. "What's new," she replied as she caught his eyes.

"Hn, true."

"So then, off to bed with you. Now _I_ have to go clean up _your_ mess." She followed him up the stairs, making sure he wasn't going to collapse. "Oh, and I'd like to look at that bite mark tomorrow to make sure you're healing okay. And try not to train too intensely in the morning." She knew there was no way in hell she was going to stop him from training. She'd tried before, and it'd only gotten her three steps back with him.

"I know," his voice was a little softer than usual, most likely due to the fact that he was about to loss consciousness. Not satisfied with himself, he gathered the last bit of his energy. "And you can _look _at it tomorrow, that's all," he told her firmly before heading to his room.


	4. Bad Ideas

This chapter will tie in with the next one. So this is chapter 4.1 :D The prompt for this one was "Touch"

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

After she had tended to his injuries that night, he noticed something that haunted his mind. The way her fingers gently touched his wounds. He couldn't get enough of it, and he hated how his body yearned for more. The softness he felt when she'd taken those damn gloves off. It had been a foolish decision on his part, to say the least, but he couldn't go back on it now. He groaned in frustration as he continued his daily training schedule.

"I am not this fucking weak," he reminded himself. "I could go far longer without needing to feel a female beneath me while serving Frieza."

That was the problem, he'd been working for that psychopath. He hardly had time to think about anything other than getting stronger and staying alive. The only time he would seek out a female was when Frieza forbid him to leave, afraid he was getting too strong. So he'd be trapped on a planet or ship for months without much else to do besides train, and that got old fast when you were the strongest.

It'd been two months since that night, and he was still thinking about it. Of course, lowering himself to trust her even further had been the real downfall.

_The next day when she'd checked his bite mark, she was astonished at how quickly it was already healing. Most of the scratches and bruises on his body had melted away, and the bite itself was already scabbing over. _

"_Wow, Vegeta, I didn't think you'd heal this quick." She once again took off the latex gloves after checking the wound and threw them in a bio-hazard trashcan. "You Saiyans are really something." She picked up a new roll of gauze and held it out to him. _

_He looked at it, then at her. "It's easier if you do it, isn't it?" he inquired while standing up and lifting his arms slightly._

_She caught her jaw before it could fall to the floor. "Um, sure, I guess," she said a little uneasy. She wrapped the material around his torso, being sure to touch him as little as possible, just in case he was trying to toy with her. She held her breath, waiting for his usual biting comments on how stupid or slow she was, but they never came. After finally finishing her job, she stepped back to put the extra gauze back in the cabinet. _

_He lowered his arms and watched as she avoided looking at him. She had already started moving back toward her desk, completely ignoring him now. He growled. He didn't like being ignored, especially after having been "nice" to her. "Woman, I need a favor." He followed into step behind her._

_She felt her cheeks heat up as he easily caught up to her. "A favor, from me?" she asked sarcastically, doing her best to hide her nervousness. "Why would you lower yourself that much, Prince?" Okay, she knew she was pushing her luck, but something was definitely up._

_He growled again, not liking one bit that he had to ask HER of all humans. "You seem to be good at healing. You have medicines that helped my healing process, as you had stated last night. It would benefit me if you could do the same the next time this happens." _

"_The next time this happens? You mean the next time you go pick a `fight with something that could eat you?!" She was furious. He had apparently been taking care of himself all these months, and now that she'd proven her use - yet again - he was going to take more of her time! She finally whipped around to look at him, his usual scowl in place that gave nothing away. "It's not bad enough that I have to repair that damn gravity room, get my own projects done, and help Father run the company, but now you want me to be YOUR personal nurse?! I don't think so, buster." She jabbed a finger into his rock hard chest, regretting her actions as she felt a jolt of pain in the finger, but she kept it there to prove her point. _

_He looked at the offending appendage, then back up to her eyes. "I will not ask so nicely again, woman. So you better rethink your answer quickly," he warned._

_She could see the imaginary fire starting to burn in his eyes and knew she had limited time. She pulled her finger back and sighed. "Fine, but a favor usually requires something from both parties." She watched is face for any hint of violence coming her way._

"_In return I'll give you a quick death, instead of playing with you like I'd originally planned. Now that we both have what we want, I'm going back to training."_

So, for the last two months he'd gone to her a handful of times, usually when he got a ki blast to his back, and each time her touch was the same - soft and gentle. It didn't help matters that for burns all she would do was rub some cream on it, without the use of gloves. Maybe if she'd worn those gloves, his body wouldn't have responded the way it was now.

"And it's my own fucking fault. I'm the one that forced her into healing me." He gritted his teeth, pissed at his own lack of thinking through the situation. He'd only wanted to heal faster so that his training would stop getting interrupted or slowed down due to his injuries. Now here he was thinking about how good it would feel to have her soft, warm touch on other parts of his body. "Damn it, no! The only thing I'm dong on this planet is training so I can beat those so called androids. I will not bed that annoying woman just because my body wants release."


	5. Heat

Okay, so this prompt was "Skin"

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

She didn't know how much longer she could keep her urges under control. She'd been tending to the Prince's wounds for two _long_ months now, and every time he came to her she did her best to quietly tend to him. She'd done well the first few times just because she'd still been pissed at him for making her his nurse.

As time went by, though, she noticed that he only came to her about once a week, and mainly only for the burns on his back that he couldn't reach. So she had the privilege of applying burn cream to his scarred back. Each time, her thoughts wondered more and more to where exactly he'd acquired each one, but always kept her lips pressed tightly together. She was curious, not stupid!

When she helped tend to his bite, she had been too worried to pay attention to the little details, but now that he had pretty much ordered her to take care of him she started noticing more things about him. It wasn't just the amount of different sized scars that littered his back, front, arms, and legs; it was the texture and temperature of his skin. At first she didn't feel the difference between Saiyan and human, but the last few times she'd used the excuse of getter better balance by putting her unused hand against his back or side. Finally getting a good feel, pressing her hand into the flesh to "balance" herself, she felt how much thicker the top layer of skin was compared to humans. The only thing she could think to compare it was elephant hide. Although it was thick the skin itself held only a little roughness, or maybe it was just his since he'd been in battles all these years. She was guessing that since Saiyans were a warrior race, the tough skin had it's benefits of not being easily penetrated, unlike her human flesh.

The second thing she noticed was his body temperature radiating from under her palm, almost so that she wanted to pull back from the heat. She didn't though, in fear of him figuring out her lie. Of course, she was pretty sure that he knew she was lying to begin with, since it had been the fifth or sixth time she'd had to heal this particular spot, but if he did know he never said anything to stop her. So she kept her hand planted where it was, enjoying the heat and roughness that was Vegeta's skin. It was amazing how similar yet different their anatomies were. That and she knew that Saiyans and Earthlings were apparently sexually compatible, thanks to Goku and Chi-Chi.

She felt her body heat rise at the mere thought of getting to touch him again, and she wondered if she'd get to again today. Not that she wanted him to himself hurt or anything, she was just glad to have the small privilege of touching him without getting a death threat.

She shook her head, clearing the thoughts away. She had work to do, and plenty of it now that Vegeta was back and destroying things, and her days were once again filled with long work hours and shortened sleep hours. She felt the blush creeping up on her cheeks. 'Of course dreaming about a certain Saiyan isn't helping me get much sleep, either.' First it had been nightmares of him going on a rampage, and now her mind was doing the complete opposite! 'It's not like it'll happen in real life, anyway.' She had admit that she was _little _disappointed at the thought of not getting the male's attention. Maybe it was because she was so used to getting any guy she wanted, or maybe she was just that out of her mind.


	6. Like it Matters

The prompt for this chapter was "Flirt".

**Warning: If you don't like a darker Vegeta, then you may want to turn back**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.  
**

She was rolling up her blueprints and putting them away for the night when she heard heavy footsteps and cursing coming down the stairs. She couldn't help the smile that passed her lips as she put the rolled prints into a bin and continued to clear her desk.

Vegeta stepped into the small lab and made his way over to the woman who was busy ignoring him. He knew she'd heard him, he had made sure to make enough noise for her to know. So why wasn't she running around and getting supplies?

She finished putting her items away and turned to look at her patient, almost afraid since it was only nine o' clock, and he usually didn't come in until at least 11. She sighed as she turned around to see his front covered in angry red marks from being hit with ki blasts. His shorts were still mostly intact, but she could see a few spots where the fabric was almost completely frayed.

"I take it the GR won today?" she couldn't help the words from escaping her mouth as a sly smile curved on her lips. He mumbled something she couldn't understand. "Okay, take a seat." She patted her now spotless desk.

He raised an eyebrow at her. She'd always directed him to one of the lab tables, so he was a little surprised that she was offering him her personal space.

She opened a side drawer to show him the medical supplies she used. "There's really no need to mess the entire lab for a simple burn treatment," she told him. "So I stored what we need here, then that way the only thing I need to dirty is my workspace."

She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before. Perhaps it was just because she was too pissed at him, but, in the end, she had been stuck cleaning up after their sessions and having to make sure it was spotless. At least this way - with her doing the work at her own desk - she wouldn't have to scrub as hard or be so anal about the cleaning.

She reached into the drawer and grabbed the burn salve, opening it, then set it on the desk. She moved to sit on the desk behind him, letting her legs dangle off the edge and supporting herself with her right arm. She looked inspected his back to find the biggest, ugliest burn to start with.

Vegeta dipped a few fingers into the salve and bent forward to start with the few burns he had acquired on his legs. He was used to Bulma taking her time by now, but it didn't make him any more tolerable to her slowness. He had finished his legs and was getting ready to dip his fingers back into the container when she finally started.

Her fingers barely grazed his as they both reached into the container. "Sorry." She pulled her hand back quickly, letting him go first. He didn't say anything in return. She let out a silent breath. 'Perhaps I should've put him on a lab table. This feels too intimate.' With her recent dreams, it was only adding to her desire to touch him in a more intimate way than he would ever allow her.

She finally started on her duties, coating her fingers in the salve before applying it on the biggest burn, which was in the center of his back. "So what happened today? Did you fall asleep while battling yourself?" She almost laughed at the picture of him falling asleep while in the midst of battle.

"Why would I fall asleep during battle, woman?" he grouched, while trying to ignore the pressure she was applying to his back.

This time she didn't suppress the giggle. "It was just a joke. You know, you really need to learn to relax." She pressed her fingers in small circles over the burn. "Besides, I haven't seen you in this bad a shape since you came back with that bite."

"They're just burns, it's not like I'm bleeding to death," he bit out. Her fingers and obvious concern were wrecking havoc on his nerves. She was lucky he was a man of control or else she would've found herself pinned to the desk or ground by now.

She sighed, her breath fanning over his upper back. "I suppose not. It's just you usually don't come out of the GR with this many injuries." Making sure the burn she was treating was evenly coated before moving onto the next one.

He huffed. He was already working on the last of his burns. "Just because I don't come to you everyday doesn't mean I'm injury free. I told you before I can take care of myself."

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously," she snorted. 'Think, Bulma! Keep him talking.' She was quite impressed with her sad attempt at trying to flirt with the Saiyan. It was nothing like flirting with an Earth man, but Vegeta was _very_ different than her usual target. She would just have to start small - albeit very small - and work her way up.

As she tried to think of something else to say, her hand strayed from the burn she was working on and rubbed against a raised spot.

Vegeta tried to catch the strangled moan that crawled up his throat, and he did what he could to turn it into a low growl. "Watch what you're doing back there, woman!" he roared, once again pissed at his own lack of thought.

Bulma quickly snapped her head down to look at what she'd touched. She saw the bump on his lower back, indicating the loss of his tail. "Oops, did I hurt you?" she asked concerned. She hadn't meant to brush across his now obvious sore spot.

'Hurt him? She honestly thought that she'd _hurt_ him?'

She leaned over his back, careful not to press against it, as she brought her lips close to his ear. "Maybe I could kiss it and make it feel better." Even as the words flew from her mouth she knew it was a bad idea. 'What happened to taking it slow?' her mind screamed. No matter what reaction she would get out of him, it would probably be bad. To her surprise, though, he didn't give her the response she was waiting for.

He chuckled. It wasn't as scary as his usual harsh laughter, but it still sent a shiver down her spine.

"You really do have some balls on you, woman." He turned his head so he could look at her face with one eye and half a smirk.

She gave him a half frown and was tempted to tell him that she didn't have any balls, and that he was more than welcome to check for himself, but she kept her lips tight.

"Oh." His eyebrow lifted slightly. "Have I managed to do the impossible? Keeping that little mouth of yours shut for once," he answered his own question.

Her frown turned into a smirk as he felt her hand drift slightly to the left and down, before the heel of her hand pressed hard on the nub of flesh connected to his spine. This time he didn't have to turn a moan into the very loud growl that ripped through his closed lips.

"You shouldn't speak to a lady in such a vulgar manner." She knew she was putting her life on the line once again as she brushed her lips across the shell of his ear, while her heel still pressed against his flesh.

He growled, "you are no lady. In fact, if I had money to wager, I'd say you probably have the biggest balls out of your little group of friends."

Her blood boiled under her skin, heating her flesh. Her stomach doing flip-flops at the now very dangerous situation she was getting herself into. "Since you're so sure of your words, why don't you go ahead and check for yourself." There, she'd said it. She moved away from him and stood on the floor. Moving in front of him, she slightly spread her legs and gave him a challenging look.

He gripped the edge of her desk, feeling the metal bend under his fingers. His instincts telling him to take what she offered so freely, but he wouldn't bend to her will. "Now who's being vulgar and un-lady like. Besides, what would your weakling do if he found out?" He repaid her challenge with one of his own.

She put her hands on her hips, but made no other move. "Yamcha? You should know that I broke up with him after you destroyed the GR all those months ago. I haven't seen him since, and don't care to, either," she answered.

"Is that why you've been running around half-naked, trying to catch my attention?" His own sick sense of flirting kicking in at the haughty female before him.

She gasped at his accusation. A second later she was smirking again. "Apparently it worked, if you noticed me." She folded her arms under her breasts, continuing to flirt with danger.

His eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed tightly together before he stood. "You know who I am and yet you're still so brazen." He lifted his hand to cup her chin.

Her heart stilled as he finally touched her. "I know you won't hurt me. You need me or so you keep saying. So if you need my services, then you surely wouldn't hurt me."

He watched her blue eyes as he felt her pulse beat in her neck. "Are you so sure of _your_ words?" His fingers slid from under her chin to skim down her slender neck.

She gulped, not sure if her body was frightened or completely turned on. 'What is wrong with you? He's holding your life in his hands and it's just making you more horny!' her conscience yelled.

"Yes," she finally whispered. Blue stared into black as she felt his bare fingers dance across her neck. She could feel them twitch at her answer.

"You seemed to have lost some of that spunk, woman. I'd have to say you're not truly confident in your answer." He gave her his evil smirk as his fingers curled around her neck. "Do you still believe I won't hurt you?"

"Yes," her voice confident this time, and she felt his fingers uncurl and caress her neck again.

"Good. I'd hate to damage such delicate, beautiful skin." He finally pulled away from her, done with this evenings game.

She cocked her head to the side, giving him a curious look. "You didn't confirm your words. Or are you that certain I have a set of balls?"

The smirk still set on his lips, he let the dark chuckle bubble in his throat. "Are you that desperate for a man's touch? Or do you just wish to be broken?"

She felt the blush creep up her neck and into cheeks. She figured the way things were going, he would want to be with her, but apparently she had hit another brick wall. "If I wished for a man's touch I could easily find it…"

"And yet here you are trying your damnedest to get into _my_ shorts," he easily called her bluff as he inhaled. "Did you already forget that I'm _not_ human." He leaned into her and took a deep breath, before blowing it back out on her sensitive neck. "I smell things that you try to hide behind words. I've been able to smell it since I walked down here."

Her blush deepened, but she didn't move. "So are you saying that I'm wasting my time?" Her heart raced while she waited for an answer. If he said yes, then she would give up, but if he said anything else…

He pulled back from her heated flesh before he let himself do something foolish. "I will not lie to you, Bulma." He met her eyes. "I am…attracted to you for some unknown reason."

Her heart beat faster at the mention of her name. She was pretty sure it was the first time he'd used it, and she was surprised he even knew it.

"I am nothing like that weakling you called a boyfriend, as I'm sure you know very well."

She gave a sharp nod. "And I am not a whore that you can use and toss to the side. I know you have your pride, Vegeta, but I have mine as well. I will not be used as a toy for your sick fantasies," she told him firmly.

"Hn. We'll see about that." He couldn't believe he was actually considering this. Hell, he wasn't even considering it anymore, he was more than willing to jump into bed with this blue-haired female. "You know this won't change how I feel about your species, and that after I defeat Kakarot I still plan on blowing this mudball of a planet to pieces." As he told her; he wouldn't lie to her. She would know the truth of his nature before she lay beneath him.

"Don't worry, this isn't some sort of sad attempt to make you civil or a trade of services so you won't kill us all." She could feel her body going cold at her words. She was going to sleep with a man that would eventually kill her and her entire race, and yet she was looking forward to finding out exactly how skilled he was in bed.

He nodded. He could feel the waves of uncertainty coming from her at her final words. He reached out to lay his palm on her cheek, expecting her to flinch, but she didn't. He let his other hand rest at her hip, bringing her an inch apart from his own body. His nose brushed hers, before letting his lips settle over top her own. "You will think about it. I will give you time to change your mind, since you seem to understand what you'll be going to bed with."

His voice was silk, luring her further into his web. Was he hoping that by giving her an out she would take it? Or was he just once again toying with her. She swallowed hard, concentrating on the heat of his hands on her body.

"You know what type of man I am." She nodded, and he rewarded her with a stroke of his thumb on her cheek. "I will not be gentle." She nodded once again, and let his other hand slip under the hem of her shirt. "This will be nothing but sex, fucking. No relationship will come of this." She nodded a third time, a little slower this time. "This will not give you any form of control over me. If you try, I _will_ kill you." His hand left her cheek, letting his fingers travel through her hair. Reaching the middle he jerked her head back forcefully. "You will think about all I have told you. If you wish for something other than what I told you, then leave me be. I will not make you 'nurse' me if you deny me properly. Now, tell me what you will think about tonight," he ordered, none-to-softly as he held her head back.

Fire lit her blue eyes at his treatment of her. "You are a murdering bastard hell bent on destroying my race."

He smirked. 'This could be enjoyable if she consents.'

"You'll be a beast in bed."

'Yes, very enjoyable.' He watched as her eyes flamed brighter with anger.

"You want nothing more than to fuck my brains out. No commitment."

His fingers loosened their hold on her hair, but her head remained tilted. He took the opportunity to run his tongue along her stretched neck, tasting her for the first and maybe last time.

Her pulse yet again quickened at his attention. "If I try to control you with my hot body, you _will_ kill me." She couldn't help her fingers from diving into his flame-swept black hair. "If I deny you." Her breath hitched when she felt fingertips brush the underside of her bra. "If I deny you properly, I won't have to play nurse for you anymore."

At her final words, he pulled completely away, leaving her body hot and bothered. She fought to control her breathing and calm her heart rate. As she panted and fanned herself, she glanced at Vegeta to see that he was in no way affected.

"Good girl. If need be, maybe you could make a list of cons and pros." He started to turn and walk away.

"And when will I give you my answer?" she called after him, not quite ready to move her body.

"I'll leave it up to you. After all, you're the one with the all the decisions to make," he told her before walking out.

She walked over to her desk and rested her bottom against where Vegeta had sat. She hooked her hands on the edge to lift herself up, but stopped as she felt something odd. The metal was bent. It hadn't been that way before had it? Surely not. "Vegeta was sitting here," she whispered to herself. Looks like she wasn't the only one holding back early on in the conversation.


	7. Reflections and Decisions

The prompted for this chapter was: "Hug".

**IMPORTANT A/N: I don't know why, but it screwed up the first time I posted this chapter, so here is the fixed version. There is more to it, it got cut off for some reason...**

A/N: First off I'd like to say thanks to those of you who have faved or watched this story XD So thanks to the latest: **Kerryyuy**, **Karashi**, and **Geta-Baby**  
I'd also like to thank the few reviewers:  
**QAM_Stu**: If you are still reading this, I hope these last few chapters have been "long" enough XD  
**jambacute**: Thank you :D  
**kerryyuy**: Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy ^^  
**Karashi**: I'm so glad that you are enjoying it, and here's to hoping this chapter is done well!LOL

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

She quickly cleaned her desk and washed her hands before exiting the lab. She slowly walked through the dark and quiet house, thinking of what exactly had happened. She'd just witnessed a new side of Vegeta, and she was a little shocked at it. He'd been all business. Even after he'd taken advantage of her stretched neck!

Which if she thought she was shocked by his business skills, she had been thrown into left field when she had felt his tongue on her skin. That alone had been enough to shoot a small dose of pleasure down her spine and a very large dose of reality to her mind.

She sighed as she finally reached her room and walked in, turning on her bedside lamp. As she made her way to the walk-in closet, her mind was still dizzy from all the thoughts trying to process at once. 'This is so much harder than math equations or circuits!' It didn't help that her mind was stuck on Vegeta, and not what _he'd_ told her to think about. Oh no, her mind was thinking of all the things that tongue could do to her body.

She picked out a pair of pajamas and quickly threw them on before exiting the closet and falling on her queen sized bed. She threw an arm across her forehead and stared at the ceiling. Twisting her mind from the pleasurable thoughts, she sighed heavily.

She knew if any of her friends found out about her thoughts or course of action, they would surely lock her up or think that she'd finally lost her mind, but she didn't care. She wanted Vegeta! He was proud, arrogant, controlled, agile, determined….her list of all the qualities she admired about him going on and on.

She turned on her side, grabbing the nearest pillow and hugging it to her chest, resting her chin on top of it. There was also that dark side to him. A side she didn't know too well, and had seen so very little of while on Namek. He was a murder, had committed genocide, had killed her then _boyfriend_, and he had told her that he was _still_ planning to kill Goku and then destroy her world.

For some reason, in her mind, it didn't matter. All the horrible things she could picture him doing, didn't matter. He was still a man, a man who had been raised by a tyrant. A slave to that ugly lizard creature called Frieza.

When they'd been brought back to Earth with the Dragonballs, they had all been surprised to see him there. They had come to find out, though, that Vegeta had long been plotting the downfall of his cruel master. As they waited for the fight between Goku and Frieza to end she had gotten to see a little more of the darker, almost insane, side to his nature. He had laughed endlessly when he thought Goku was going to die and take Frieza with him. He had beaten Gohan almost to a bloody pulp before Piccolo stepped in, making Vegeta back down from killing the young boy.

So many things had happened all those few short years ago, and after she'd invited him into her home, she had always noticed the strong lonely prince as he marched around not giving more than he had to. Never saying a word to anyone unless it was to bark an order or give demands to her father. She turned onto her back and sighed again, still holding the pillow tight as her thoughts continued to deepen.

Her mother adored him, could practically see the royal blood flowing through his veins, and she offered him anything. Her father, bless him, stayed as far away as he could from their guest. Of course, she was sure a lot of it had to do with Vegeta storming into his lab and yelling like a spoiled child for new equipment almost everyday.

She, she had seen it all. The dark and brooding predator who wanted nothing more than to destroy what angered him. The helpless man who was lost, nowhere to go, no home to return to. The child that wanted things done immediately and insisted that world revolved around him. Then, there was this new side she was seeing unfold. She would guess that it was his true self coming out. The prince, well versed in political games, making deals. He was almost civil with her, giving her an opt-out of the very thing _she_ had initiated.

"If he thinks I'm backing down that easily," she muttered to herself, finally lifting the covers and burrowing underneath. "He has no idea who Bulma Briefs is!" She buried her face in the pillow she still held, closing her eyes. "So much for thinking about what a crazy, sadistic, asshole he really is." She felt the pull of stress leave her body as she snuggled into the softness.

~Break~

By the time she made it downstairs in the morning, Vegeta was heading out of the kitchen as she was entering. He gave her a smug look and a raised eyebrow. She returned the look, letting him know the game was on and she wasn't backing down.

She grabbed her usual cup of coffee and a few slices of toast before heading to the lab. Another full day was ahead of her, and her mind was finally focused enough to get some serious work done. She ended up skipping lunch, but did head upstairs a little after to grab a snack and water.

She did stop for dinner to eat with her parents. She had hoped to run into Vegeta while she was taking a break, but it seemed that he was mindset as well-on his training. After refueling her body, she decided to head back down to the lab and get as much done as possible while her mind was willing.

She hadn't even realized how late it had become until she looked up at the clock and saw that it was well past midnight. She moaned and pouted a little. "Vegeta usually stops around 10 or 11, and there's no way I'm disturbing his sleep." She looked down at her hands, noticing the fine cover of grime over them from a hard days work. "I guess I'll just take a quick shower and head to bed," she complained to herself as she put her work away.

The next day was quite the same. She got up, though this time she seemed to miss Vegeta at breakfast time. She frowned slightly as she got her coffee.

"What's wrong, honey?" her mother asked. "You were so happy yesterday. Did something happen last night?"

Bulma sighed and took a sip from her mug. "You could say that." She shrugged. "I just didn't get everything I wanted to get done."

"But you worked all yesterday, didn't you?" Her mother turned her attention away from cleaning the dishes.

"Yeah. I just wasn't satisfied. I should've been able to get more done!" her voice rose a bit toward the end. She looked at her mother and blushed a little. "Sorry, Mom, you know how I get sometimes."

Her mother smiled back at her. "Just like your father. I will never understand how you two can just hole up."

Bulma shrugged at her mother's words. "Even I don't understand it. I just get so into a project and forget about the world around me. I'm sure it's the same with Dad."

Her mother nodded, going back to the dishes she had stacked on the counter-no doubt Vegeta's breakfast plates. "Are you going to be working all day today, again?"

"I'm not sure. Since Vegeta seems to be taking it easy on the GR and the bots, I'm trying to use this free time to get some new projects started." Bulma refilled her mug, ready to get to work, when her mother's words stopped her.

"Just to warn you, dear. Vegeta didn't seem to be in a good mood this morning, either. He hardly ate his breakfast," her mother said, almost thoughtfully. "I do hope you two didn't get into another fight."

Bulma almost dropped her mug. "No, Mom. We didn't get into fight. Honestly, who knows what could upset him. Perhaps one of us looked at him the wrong way!" Although she had a feeling why he was cranky, however she wasn't about to stake any money on it. "But thanks for the warning. It'll probably be best if I just stay away from him until he gets over whatever's upsetting him." She turned back to her mother to give her a smile before finally heading to work.

Yet again, she went without lunch, and she even skipped dinner. Her mind brewing new ideas by the second without having to fight over the thoughts of Vegeta. Her eyes shot up to the clock as her stomach finally growled.

"Midnight again!" She wanted to scream, but quickly closed her mouth. "He's going to think I wasn't serious or that I've given up by this point," she pouted as she started rolling up blueprints. "Well, I've been working pretty hard the last few days, so I think I deserve a break." She nodded to herself.

~Break~

She had stayed up late, plotting her course of action for the next night. So she slept in well past breakfast, finally waking up at 10. She headed down to the kitchen, and grabbed a bowl of cereal and milk along with a few pieces of fruit. Afterwards, she decided to work out a little, giving her body a good stretch and hopefully loosen some muscles. She grabbed a quick shower before lunch, noting that Vegeta still hadn't stopped his training, and she began to wonder if he was now going to avoid her.

She quickly pushed the thought aside as she ate her healthy yet filling lunch. She was going to make sure that her body was well fed as well as limber. She was bound and determined to give Vegeta a challenge that he would rise to-no pun intended.

Dinner came, and still she had seen no sign of the elusive man. She looked out the window and saw that the GR was still on. She has half tempted to go out and make sure he was okay, or at least check up on him through the video screen, but she was pretty sure he was okay since her mother had mentioned him being in an even fouler mood than yesterday. 'I'll just have to make sure he's fed before I jump him,' she thought with a smile.

After dinner, she sat out in the living room with her mother and talked for about an hour. It was now eight o'clock, and all she had to do was wait for her mother to go to bed, which would be about another hour. Hopefully Vegeta hadn't planned on stopping his training early tonight, or else she'd have to switch plans-which she was more than willing too at this point.

Ten o'clock finally rolled around. She pulled on her "pajamas" for the evening-a pair of black lace panties and a white tank top that didn't leave much to the imagination. She poked her head outside her door, looking down the darkened hallway. She silently made her way to the stairs, and softly made her way down them to the darkened living room. She once again looked out the window and saw the red lights coming from the GR, indicating that it was still in use. She made her way to the kitchen and saw that her mother had already prepared his dinner and had it set aside. So now all that was left to do was play the waiting game.

She went back into the living room and sat in the chair facing the door. She didn't turn on any of the lights, hoping she could surprise him when he walked in the door. So she sat and sat. First with her hands on her knees, then bringing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. After that she rested her elbows on her knees, cradling her head with her hands with a bored expression. She finally glanced a look at the digital clock.

"11:30! What the hell is he doing out there?" She was about to stand up, when she finally saw the red lights change into the normal white light. "It's about fucking time," she growled as she rested her feet on the floor. Not soon after she saw the hatch open and the lights go out. She could feel her heart flutter inside her chest with excitement and perhaps a bit of nervousness. There was no way he would reject her, right?

As he walked in the backdoor, slipping his shoes off, she stood from her seat, placing her hands behind her back as she walked towards him. At first he didn't seem to notice her, but she _noticed_ that he didn't leave the room. She would take it as a good sign, and when she got a few steps away from him, he finally acknowledged her-giving her body an appreciative once over before meeting her eyes.

She took the few steps left between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her body to his in a light hug, feeling his hardened muscles and sweaty skin. She was waiting for him to push her away, to tell her she was too late, but it never came. Instead he finally let his hands rest against her lower back, pressing her a little closer to him.

His hot breath fanned across her ear. "And here I thought you chickened out or at least finally came to your senses."

She smiled as she pressed her face into the towel around his neck. "You should know better than that. I don't back down from a challenge, no matter how insane it makes me look or feel." She pulled back to look at him, letting her arms drop from his neck. His arms remained around her back, still holding their lower bodies close. "I haven't seen you all day so I'm assuming that you haven't eaten."

"And?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't like that idiot Kakarot, he could go far longer without eating. His stomach was just like any other body part, all it took was a little training.

"Mom saved you dinner, and I don't need your body giving out too early on me," her voice hinting with a little lust as she give him a wink.

He dropped his arms from around her waist, letting her lead the way to the kitchen all the while a smirk on his face and laughter buried deep in his chest. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.


	8. Don't Back Down

The prompt for this chapter was: "Passion".

A/N: I'd like to thank all the faves and watches: **majelicalchemist95**, **GaArA-i-LoVe-YoU**, and **xXBrittyBabeXx  
**And to the new Reviewer: **BloodxKanji **- Hope you enjoy this chapter ^^

**Important A/N: This chapter has been edited to take out the more...smutty stuff. If you'd like to read the unedited version, you can either visit Livejournal:** http : / community . livejournal . com / bulmavegeta / 44387 . html?#cutid1** or MediaMiner:** http : / mediaminer . org /fanfic/view_?cid=588019&submit=View+Chapter&id=166233

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

She sat on the island counter, legs crossed at her ankles, as she watched him eat. Her hands rested against the countertop behind her, leaning her body slightly back and breasts straining against her top.

He took another big bite before looking in her direction. He swallowed. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked curiously with a look of mischief.

She gave him a brief shake of her head. "I've been eating throughout the day, and I even did a little exercise." She lifted her hands off the counter to rest them on her knees. Her breasts now pressing together, giving him a good amount of cleavage to stare at. "So don't you worry about me," she told him, a smirk playing on her lips.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "And just how long have you been planning this?" He wiped his hands and mouth before standing from the table, walking away from the plates of food.

"Hm." A finger raised to her lips. "I had several different plans formed, depending on what could go wrong. It's never good to rely on just _one_ method," she said thoughtfully while keeping an eye on the predator that stealthily moved closer.

His towel had been thrown over the back of the chair, after he'd used it to wipe the sweat that had been clinging to his muscles. So now the only article of clothing still attached to him was his training shorts. Those tight, clinging, form-fitting, navy blue spandex shorts. Yet somehow they seemed to never give any hints away at what exactly was hiding underneath them.

"What are you thinking about?"

The breath of air against her neck and ear shook her from the thoughts. Had he moved that fast, or had she really been fantasizing that badly? His hands were placed on the counter, effectively trapping her between them. His head was bent only slightly so he could whisper his words to her. His crotch was pressed against her still crossed legs.

"I was thinking about how much you need a shower." A hand came up to cover her nose. "You've been training all day. The least you could do is clean up and smell nice for me," she told him, ignoring the growling that was coming from him.

He pulled back to look at her. The snarl crawling from his throat and through his now clenched teeth. He could so easily end her life, and for a half a second his hand curled into a ball at her side. 'Not yet!' his mind yelled. His hand flattened back out beside her. 'She is still of use, now more than ever.' There was a human phrase that crossed his mind at his predicament, 'Have your cake and eat it, too'.

He smirked, the snarl dissipating to a low hum then stopped. "A shower, huh? I like that idea."

She didn't like that smirk, it usually meant terrible things were about to happen. She almost sighed in relief when he pulled away from her, but his hand grabbed her wrist. He pulled her off the counter, her feet stumbling to balance as he yanked her along behind him. "What are you doing, Vegeta?" she questioned, a little annoyed and little curious at his sudden turn of behavior.

"Taking a shower, like you requested." His grip keeping firm around her wriggling wrist. If she thought she was going to have any control after agreeing to this, she was sorely wrong.

He pulled her into the nearest bathroom, letting go of her wrist so he could shut and lock the door. He stalked over to the shower stall and turned on the water. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

A scowl was set on her face as she cradled the wrist he had dragged her by. "Jerk." She finally looked up at him. The insult did nothing to the smirk still plastered on his lips. Instead of firing back, his thumbs hooked under the waistband of his shorts and quickly discarded them. Her eyes almost instantly dropped down to look at what she'd been fantasizing and dreaming about all these months, but quickly snapped back up. 'Arrogant jerk,' she thought as he made a come-hither look.

She started toward him, a tiny smile forming on the corner of her lips. Her hands pushing up the tank top and over her head. She threw it in the direction of the hamper, never stopping her swaying hips. She was finally a few inches away from him when she slowly pushed her panties off her hips. "So?" Her eyes flicked briefly from his to the shower, and her hands rested lightly on his chest.

He leaned over and nipped at her bottom lip. His hands catching her elbows and pulling her closer before fully kissing her. Her eyes closed at the onslaught of pleasure just from his dominating kiss. She moaned lightly as he pulled her against his heated body.

He was so warm. She almost recoiled as her cool skin met his own burning flesh, but with his lips on hers, she pressed further against him. Then she felt him pushing her, backing her up, into the shower. She had been so caught up in the attention he was giving her, that it took her body a few seconds to realize that the water against her back wasn't warm. If it was possible, she pressed more into his warm skin, gasping into the unbroken kiss.

She tried to pull back, but his hand was there, putting just the slightest amount of strength to keep her locked in place. She whimpered as more water hit her back. It was now almost reaching the edge of her hair that hung to the middle of her back.

He finally pulled back, his fingers still pressing against her scalp. "Seems like I didn't adjust the water temperature correctly," he said in his most sincere voice, although the smirk on his face told her what she already knew. "Let me fix that." He pushed her under the full spray of the water, her body shaking.

She clenched her teeth, and her hands gripped his biceps. "Y-you are s-such a-a bastard," she chattered.

His smirk grew into a malicious grin. "I never said anything about playing nice, now did I?" His rhetorical question hanging in the air as he reached behind her to adjust the temperature. He pushed her past the spray of water so he could stand under it. He reached to the side and picked up the bar soap, then held it out to her.

She looked at it, scoffed, and batted his hand away. "I told you I'm not playing out any sick fantasies for you." She crossed her arms under her breasts, and gave him her best scowl.

He rolled his eyes and growled in annoyance at her behavior. "_You_ are the one that requested I _smell_ nice." He held out the soap again.

She looked at him, then the soap. "I think you're quite capable of cleaning yourself. You're not tricking me into washing you like some slave." She held her stance. "Or are you still trying to scare me away?" Her scowl slowly morphing into a sly smirk.

"Tch. If I wanted to scare you, there are far worse things I could request of you." He sneered before running the soap along his muscles.

The smirk dropped from her face as she watched him wash. Why had she denied the chance to get to tease him? 'Damn, here I am reading too much into something, instead of seeing an opening!' Her arms uncrossed as she continued to watch. She unconsciously shuffled forward, her hands stopping his actions.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" his voice barked as her soft hands grabbed for the soap.

She smiled softly as he let her take the soap from him. "Nothing." He eyed her as she lathered her hands with the soap before putting it back where it belonged. "I just changed my mind." Her now sudsy hands moving toward his crotch. "Is that okay?" she asked as a hand wrapped around him.

"Fine by me." His face giving nothing away as her hand slid along his flesh. He moved his face under the water to wash it and his hair, his lower body moving slightly forward and out of the mist.

Bulma watched with fascination as his muscles bunched and strained against his skin at his movements. She licked her lips as her other hand skimmed across his thigh.

"You're playing with fire, woman. I'd watch yourself before you get burned."

His face was sticking out of the water so he could talk properly, but it left his hair under the intense spray. His usual gravity-defying hair was now being pushed back, and it looked so different. Sure most of it still held the spiked quality, but there were a few strands that were plastered against his neck and even fewer that were dangling on his forehead. The hand that had brushed his thigh came up to touch his hair, but he stopped her. His hand snatching her wrist and pulling her against him, yet again.

"Playtime is over." His other hand removing her hand from around him as he backed her against the wall. A knee caressed her thigh, as his fingers slid across the other teasingly. He leaned into her, his chest rubbing against hers, his mouth falling to her shoulder. He gave her a few light nips before soothing over them with his tongue, and continued his way up her neck. "Are you ready?" His words mocking rather than curious, as a solitary finger grazed up her inner thigh to slide higher.

She bit her lip to stop the moan, but she couldn't keep her hips from rolling forward at his tantalizing touch. "I thought you just said no more playing." She turned her head slightly to try to catch his eyes.

He laughed cruelly. "I meant for you. For me, playtime is just starting."

"Vegeta!" Her hands were now holding onto his shoulders as he bounced her against the slick wall of the shower. "Don't stop, please," her voice needy and sultry, and a lot more pleasant to his ears. Her mind quickly turning into mush at his obviously experienced body. She never reached an orgasm this fast with….what was his name again? Her nails scrapped along the hardened skin of his shoulder blades as he continued. "Almost…." Her breathing so erratic and shallow she thought she was going to black out, and she almost did when her orgasm finally hit-hard. She cried out, but she quickly buried her face into his neck.

She stood on shaking legs, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Don't tell me you're already done," he mocked her once again.

She unwrapped an arm to turn off the shower. "Not even close, just need a few seconds to catch my breath." She glared at him before pushing past him. She glanced down to see that he was still hard as a rock, confirming that perhaps this was going to be more of a challenge than she originally thought. He smirked, and for a moment she thought that he'd read her mind, but was surprised when he pulled her back to him for a bruising kiss.

He pulled back, pushing her face away. "Good. I'd hate to be disappointed."

~Break~

'Kami! Had she pegged Vegeta all wrong!' She thought she was going to be a challenge or at least a match for him in bed, but she'd been wrong. 'Next time I'm not feeding you, asshole Saiyan,' she thought as she lay sprawled across her bed, staring up into his abysmal eyes. She was sure he'd gotten off at least twice, and had only stopped for a few seconds before needing to be back inside her.

Her hands gripped his waist, as her feet rested against his thighs. She felt so tired, yet she wasn't going to back down. That and it was hard to when he was giving her so much pleasure. Although, the pleasure was getting a little soreness mixed in with it now. "Vegeta," she moaned as her back arched, pushing her breast more against his mouth. His teeth sharply grazing across her nipple causing her to cry out. "Shit," she panted, "not so hard."

He suckled at the wound, before pulling back with a pop. "Stop whining, I didn't even break the skin," he told her. His hips snapped forward at a faster pace, as he sat back on his haunches, and pulled her hips against his.

Her eyes rolled back at the new depth. "Right there," she moaned desperately, her hips scooting as close as possible to his own. As the mind-numbing orgasm washed over her once again, she prayed that this would be the last-as much as she was enjoying it.

He panted lightly, as the woman lay panting on the bed. Her eyes were shut tightly, indicating that she was still trying to regain her own senses. He took a few more short pants before letting her hips fall.

She cracked open an eye. "Done?" she tried to mock him, but her panting and scratched voice betrayed her.

He glanced over his shoulder. "It's almost time to start training, which means your mom will be up cooking breakfast soon," he told her. "I'm sure you didn't want either of your parents to find out about this?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.

She shook her head lightly.

Without another word, he slid off the bed and headed toward her personal bathroom. He didn't want to start his day off with sweat and other fluids clinging to his skin. It was bad enough he would probably be able to smell her scent all around him today. He started the shower, not giving the woman another thought, until he felt her moving closer. 'She could still walk?' Damn, he was going to have to give her more credit than he wanted to at this point.

She steadied her wobbly legs by bracing her hands against the mattress. There was no way she laying there while gravity took it's course! She knew there was no way in hell she was going to be up to doing laundry and showering later today, so her best option was to drag herself in the shower to get cleaned up before passing out. 'Fucking arrogant asshole!' she fumed. She rolled her eyes at her thoughts, though. She knew exactly what to _expect_ from him, at least.

Once her legs were steady enough, she limped into the bathroom bracing herself against the wall for a little extra support. She could see his silhouette through the shower curtain. She threw it a dirty look, before setting her features into neutral. She pulled back the shower curtain and slowly stepped over the ledge of the tub.

He ignored her, continuing his cleaning, until she leaned against him. Her breasts pressed against his back, her lips ghosting across the back of his neck. "So was this a one time deal?" her question sincere. She wasn't going to let him win! She just couldn't! She had been out to prove something, whether it be to him or herself.

He scoffed, trying to push her off with a flick of his shoulder. "Does it matter, woman?" He didn't know himself if they should continue. Sure it was nice to have her willing, warm flesh against his, but it was a HUGE distraction-especially with his appetite. If he continued humoring her and indulging in their lust for one another, he would eventually have to cut back on his training.

"If it was, then I request one more round," her whispered voice slicing through his dilemma. Her hands rested on his hips, before moving forward.

He had to hold back the groan that threatened to escape as her soft hands caressed him. 'FUCK! She was supposed to be paralyzed by now! How the hell can she even think about going another round?' His mind quickly switched as he felt a twitch at her teasing touch.

"Don't tell me you can't get it up anymore?" her voice low and mocking in his ear.

He growled before quickly spinning around, and pinning her to the wall. "I am the Prince of Saiyans! How dare you mock my stamina!" He could see the laughter in her eyes and face, but it quickly faded as he drove into her. "Is that hard enough for you, whore?"

A slight blush crept on cheeks before anger shot through her. Before she could stop herself, she slapped him. "I told you I am not a whore," she seethed. The throbbing of her hand did nothing to dissipate her anger, but she would hopefully remember next time that he was apparently made of stone!

His thrusting stopped, but he didn't pull away. "You sure do act and sound like one to me," he spit in her face. "So if you don't wish to be treated like one, then stop liking one."

Her body grew hotter with anger. "For fuck's sake, Vegeta! I was just joking. Do you think that I could doubt your stamina after tonight….today?" her voice softened a bit at the end. "All I wanted to know was if we were continuing after today. I will not waste my time on something that I'll never have again." She was almost pouting, but she kept her bottom lip stiff.

His fist pounded against the wall beside her head. "Fuck, woman. You're so fucking annoying and nosey. I told there would be no commitment. That means I make no promises to anything about….this."

Her hands played with his limp hair. "I'm not asking for that, Vegeta. You keep forgetting that I'm a genius, I do have a brain that comprehends. I guess I just wanted to know if I should come to you or are you going to come to me?"

"You got what you wanted, right?" he breathed against her neck. "A taste of the mighty Vegeta. Did it satiate you?" A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as he felt her hips shift. "I need a real answer, woman."

"What do you think?" She tugged lightly on his hair, hoping he would pull back to look at her. When he only continued to nip and lick at her neck and collarbone, she continued, "I had to limp my way in here." She laughed lightly at her own stupidity. "And I practically begged for another round. Not caring that you would dump me afterwards and make me crawl back to my own bed." She had no idea what was wrong with her. It was never like this with Yamcha, even at the best of times. She almost opened her mouth back up to tell him that she'd do anything for him, let him do whatever he wanted to her, but she quickly slapped that thought away. She wouldn't be a whore for him, so she had to stop acting like one around him.

It was more of an answer than he was looking for. He was expecting a simple yes or no that he could bat aside, and tell her he was done with her either way. Except, she'd thrown him an honest answer, telling him she knew _exactly_ what she had walked into. "You remember the rules?"

"Yes." Her lips brushed across his ear. "And we can't let anyone find out, especially my parents."

"You think I don't know that already," he growled.

She laughed, her voice cracking and tired sounding. "Of course you do. Just a friendly reminder for both of us, though." Her voice broke off into a long deep moan.

This time he couldn't keep the panting back, his tongue sticking out of his mouth, as he pressed his nose against her sweaty neck. He let his body rest for a few moments, before pulling out of her. Her arms in the usual spot-around his neck. He tried to pry her off, but she clung to him.

"Not yet. Just a few more seconds so I don't fall on my ass. It's the least you owe me." She smirked at him, her nose touching his.

"Just this once, woman."

She nodded, as she took a steadying breath. "Thank you, Vegeta." She slowly let him go, before using the shower wall as support.

He only grunted before turning around to quickly wash himself off. Once again without another word or glance, he stepped out of the shower, leaving her on her own.


	9. Learning

Prompt used for this chapter was: "Surprised".

A/N: First **THANKS** for all the new faves and alerts: **BloodxKanji**, **woodbyne**, **neeky baby**, **Onba**, and **MsAnnDee **:D****

And of course thanks to the reviewers!  
**Fk306 animelover **- Hope you enjoy this chapter :3  
**BloodxKanji **- Hehe, of course Veggie won! Wouldn't expect any less from the Prince of all Saiyans, now would we?LOL.  
**Onba **- Thanks ^^ And, it's going to be a little while until Trunks enters the picture, but we all know he will eventually XD

**WARNING:** This chapter does contain adult situations and a bit of lemon-lime. There is also an appearance by the darker side of Vegeta towards the end! So if you do not like any of those things, please don't read or say I didn't warn you.

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

After Vegeta left, she quickly washed as well. Her body was just ready to pass out and never move again. She just couldn't believe that Vegeta was actually going to start his training! She sighed. It must be a Saiyan thing, perhaps as long as he had food to fuel his energy he didn't need sleep. She rolled her eyes at the thought. 'I wish my body worked like that!' she thought as she finally pulled herself from the shower.

She bypassed the mirror and brush for her pajamas and the bed. She quickly worked her fingers through her hair, getting out the tangles as best she could for the moment. 'I'll work on it when I get up,' she thought lazily. She fell onto the bed and closed her eyes, not even bothering with the covers. 'When I have more time and energy.'

**~Break~**

Vegeta walked to the guest room that had been designated as his. The woman and her mother kept stocking this room with more and more clothes that he would never wear, so he only figured that he was supposed to "live" here. He dropped the towel he had been using onto the bed, and went over to the drawer that held his training shorts and socks. After he pulled on his shorts, he turned to sit on the disheveled bed to put the socks on and saw the broken lamp on the floor. He wasn't sure how it had happened, whether the bed had bumped the table it had sat on or maybe one of them had knocked it off.

They had ended up here after the shower, seeing as how this room was closer to the bathroom they had used. Of course, after a few rolls for dominance had landed them on the floor next to the shattered pieces of glass, thanks to the tiny bed the room was supplied with. Luckily it hadn't fazed either of them, but he had sorely landed on the floor as she toppled over him. Before he could even think of reversing roles, though, she had sat up and surprised him by easily rotating her hips to take him inside her.

He growled as he stood up, throwing the towel off the bed, so he could make the bed.

She'd pulled a fast one on him, but he'd made sure she paid for it in the end. Although, he had to admit that it wasn't as horrible as he had thought. He was actually content to let her do the work she had so badly wanted.

He tucked the edges of the covers under the mattress as they had been before they'd been messed up. Then he went over to pick up the shards of broken glass, being careful not to nick his skin with some of the sharper edges.

He had been enjoying her riding him, until she had to open that damn mouth of hers! A victorious smirk plastered on her face gave him all the warning he needed that it was going to end badly for her, and as her mouth opened and the words fell from her lips, it only confirmed his thoughts. He stopped her rotating hips, holding them in his firm grasp as he gave her a menacing look. It had only taken him a few seconds to have her flipped on her hands and knees, and he was taking her like the animal he was.

He picked up the smaller pieces of glass that were left and emptied them in the trash before turning around to survey the room. Searching to make sure the room looked spotless, no traces of glinting glass or a corner of the sheet un-tucked. Turning, he left the room that showed no signs of ever being used-well, except for the now missing lamp.

**~Break~**

Bulma groaned as she raised her head to look at her bedside clock. Her eyes widened a bit as she saw it was almost six. She raised a hand to rub at her eyes before checking again. 'Yep, 6 o'clock alright. Oh well, that means it's almost dinner time.' She pushed herself up, feeling the strain in her muscles. She bit at her bottom lip, and prayed that her legs wouldn't feel stiff.

She sat up, scratching the back of her head as she yawned, turning to swing her legs over the side of her bed. Her feet landed on the plush carpet, and she curled her toes around the softness. She put some weight on her feet to test the muscles in her legs. They were a little sore, but nothing she couldn't get over or pretend it wasn't there. So, she pushed herself up and made her way to the bathroom.

Once inside, she made her way to the mirror and her jaw fell. Her hair was a total mess since she'd fallen asleep with it wet and tangled, but that wasn't what held her attention. 'You are going to pay, Vegeta,' she growled in her head. Leaning a bit closer to the mirror, she inspected the small red bites and discolored hickeys on her upper breasts and clavicle. After getting over the shock, she looked the rest of her body over. The only other place she found any marks were the back of her upper thighs, where his hands had been for most of the night, so she wasn't too surprised to see the small greenish bruises.

"Guess I should shower and get something to eat," she told herself as she turned away from the mirror.

After her shower, she primped herself and got dressed. Then, after making sure her clothes covered any visible signs of last night, she headed downstairs. She almost wanted to skip, but she stopped herself. If she showed any signs of being in a giddy mood her mother would surely know something was up, especially since she hadn't come down until now.

She stretched her arms as she walked to the kitchen, towards the smell of her mother's delicious cooking. Upon entering, there was her mother at the stove cooking up food for an army.

"Good evening, Mom." Bulma approached her mother, her usual smile set in place so her mother wouldn't be worried too much.

"Oh, Bulma." Her mother looked up and put a hand to her chest. "Are you feeling better?"

Bulma heard the slight concern slip into her mother's voice. "Better?" she asked confused.

"Oh, well, you didn't come down for breakfast. Then when you didn't come down for lunch I got worried, so I went to check on you. I even tried waking you, but all you did was mumble for me to go away. So I just figured you were sick."

Bulma blushed a little. Had she been that out of it? "I didn't mean to worry you, Mom. I was just up late."

"I thought you were taking a few days off?" her mother asked innocently.

"I am. It's just, you know me!" She panicked a little, but was glad that she had inherited her father's brains. "Have to always be working on something if I'm bored." She threw her mother a big smile as she leaned against the island counter.

"Well that's good to hear, darling. I was going to say what a shame it was that you finally took some time-off and ended up getting sick. That would've just been terrible luck."

Bulma laughed. "Terrible indeed. I've never really been one to get sick easily, though," Bulma pointed out to her mother.

"Very true, dear," her mother agreed. "Dinner's almost done. Why don't you go see if your father's joining us."

"Sure, Mom."

Bulma pushed away from the counter and headed toward her father's lab. As she passed through the main living room, she couldn't help but look outside to the GR. She rolled her eyes at the red glow and continued on her path.

After dinner she excused herself, and made her way upstairs. Sure she had already slept half the day away, but she could still feel the pull of sleep tugging at her body. She got up to her room and fell back onto her bed, an arm resting over her forehead.

"I guess I can sleep now and wake up early tomorrow." She nodded to herself. She couldn't think of anything important she had to do besides a few minor projects tomorrow, so if she got too tired by midday perhaps she could take a nap.

She crawled up on her bed, not even bothering to change out of her shorts and T-shirt, as she turned the covers down and got under them. She didn't even bother to set her clock, knowing she would most likely wake up in the early morning, if not before.

**~Break~**

One eye cracked open at the light shining through her bedroom. 'What the hell,' she thought tiredly. She pushed the covers down and blinked a few times. 'The bathroom light?' Had she gotten up to go to the bathroom and forgotten to turn off the light? She didn't think she had. Then her brain picked up the sound of running water.

She looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. 'Vegeta,' she thought. She looked towards the balcony doors, and sure enough there were his shoes and socks sitting to the side. The water shut off and not two seconds later he was standing in the bathroom doorway, naked. She licked her lips. She wasn't dreaming, was she?

"I was starting to wonder if you were dead."

At his snarky comment she could feel her blood heat up. She pushed the covers away from her and moved off the bed to stand. "Then why did you stay? Or are you just that fucked up?" She stepped closer to him, but stopped as she saw his hand curl into a fist.

He glared at her. He took the few short steps between them, his fisted hand coming up to brush his knuckles across her cheek softly. His glare turning into a smirk as his hand unfisted and grabbed a lock of hair, pulling just hard enough to tilt her head to the side.

"You should already know the answer to that." His breath fanned across her chin and neck. His lips barely touching her as they ran from the bottom of her chin to her neck. He chuckled lightly as he breathed her in. Her skin so thin he could easily see the pulse of her veins along her stretched neck.

She snorted at his comment. "Yes, I already knew you were a sick bastard. I still thought you at least had _some_ morals left." His teeth scrapped along her neck, making her knees buckle slightly.

He could almost taste it. The sweet smell of her blood called to him from beneath the thin barrier. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much, woman?" his voice a little deeper than usual.

She smiled. "Sure, plenty of times." She paused in her sentence, letting him think she was done. His teeth grazed across her neck again. 'What is he doing?' She couldn't stop the thought from popping up. His hand still held the small lock of hair, as he breathed and teethed at her neck. "Can you guess how many times I actually gave a shit, though?"

He stopped his ministrations with a huff. "Pathetic human males." He finally let go of her hair, and she immediately straightened. "Frightened of a woman who has no fighting power."

She smirked. "We're not a warrior race, Vegeta. On this planet there are other factors that keep people in line."

His hand reached over to tug at her flimsy shirt. "Like your loud mouth. I get it." He yanked the cloth, easily splitting the seams and tearing it from body. "But I'm not a pitiful human, now am I?" he growled. She was wearing what these humans called a "bra". He reached out again, but she turned her back on him.

She walked away from him, not caring about his reaction. She was pissed, and yet the angrier he got her, the more turned on she became. How could somebody so infuriating and macho be so….stimulating. In fact, she was supposed to be yelling at him for marring her beautiful skin, yet here she was ready to pounce on him.

A strong hand rested on her stomach, pulling her back against hard muscle. "You shouldn't show your back to the enemy," his voice purred in her ear.

She felt the pull on the back of her bra before the hooks easily snapped. "You should learn to be a little more patient," she snarled. That was her favorite bra! She flushed as her anger once again collided with her hormones.

"Hn. What fun is that? Besides, you seem to be enjoying my lack of patience." His fingers slid along the front of her shorts, once again pulling on the material until the button popped from it's stitching and the teeth of the zipper broke apart.

She would've turned around to yell in his face, if his hold wasn't so firm. She felt the tug on her shorts before they disappeared, along with her panties. Her flesh was now pressed against his. She bit the inside of her cheek from mewling with want and pleasure. "Do you get some sort of sick pleasure from destroying things?" she yelled instead of giving in.

The hand that had torn her clothes off slid up to her breast. "Yes," he breathed in her ear. He was satisfied when her body shivered then relaxed against his.

It just wasn't fair! He easily outweighed her when it came to strength. Even when she tried to use different tactics, he always seemed to be one step ahead of her. That, and he never backed down, at least not for long. She'd almost gotten her way last night, until her need to gloat had reared it's ugly head.

She bit harder into her cheek as he twisted a nipple in his fingers, his other hand still pressing on her stomach. She pushed her bottom back against his groin. Her hands rested on his hips, gripping him, before inching back. There was only one spot that she knew of to get back in the game.

She continued to grind against him as her fingertips brushed lightly towards his back-his spine. His attention was still seemingly focused on her neck, but she felt his hand that was on her stomach slip lower. She smirked, letting a small moan escape as his fingers inched lower. Her own fingers found the protruding stump on his lower back.

The next thing she knew a hand was around her neck, squeezing, and her body was firmly being pressed into the mattress. She looked up in surprise and shock to see angry eyes and a snarling face. She swallowed the best she could with the hand almost choking her.

"You really do wish to die," he seethed. He bared his teeth, his nose touching hers.

Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Then stop threatening and do it!" Her eyes widened slightly again as his hand tightened.

He smirked, pulling away from her face to get a full view of her squirming body. "Death is such a beautiful thing. Don't you think?" His mocking laughter poured from his throat as her hands pulled at his wrists.

"Vegeta," she breathed out. His face turned serious again as he let her go. She touched her neck lightly, surprised at how little it hurt. She was about to reach out and slap him, but remembered her past experience. Instead, she pushed at him, not that it would do much good. "What the fuck was that about?"

He growled, not moving from his position above her. "Don't ever touch that spot again. Got it?"

Spot? Oh! She nodded. "I didn't think it'd make you go insane," she said lightly.

His trademark smirk appeared back on his face as he nudged his lower half against hers. "It does a lot of things."

Her eyes glanced down, then back up. "Oh. I thought it just hurt you," her voice wavering with emotion. Maybe she could find a way to touch it that wouldn't make him go berserk but still cause the "good" side effects.

He saw the glint in her blue eyes. "If you _ever_ touch it again, I will make your life hell."

"Hm. As if you haven't already."

He leaned down and gave her a drugging kiss before pulling back. "You never do shut up," he stood as he commented to himself. He grabbed her hips and scooted her fully on the bed.

"Nope." She threw him a cheeky smile before he kneeled on the bed in front of her.

"I'm sure we'll have that problem fixed after tonight," he told her before attacking.


	10. Ebb and Flow

Prompt used was: "Curious".

A/N: I'd like to thank my reviewers:  
**Fk306 animelover: **Thank you ^^  
**Onba: **Glad you like Dark Vegeta :3  
**Mikkibaby: **Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. And perhaps you'll like this as well ~_^ Hehe

**Diclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

She couldn't stop thinking about it. She just couldn't. It was the only leverage she had on him, and if she could figure out how to use it correctly. She sighed. "He'd still just threaten to kill me. As is the norm." She'd been thinking about the "spot" for the whole week.

That's right, it was officially a week since they'd made their sordid deal. She sighed again. "And now I have to deal with this." She looked down at her stomach, cursing her female parts. "Oh well, I guess this just gives me more time to think over the problem." She smiled to herself as she sat up. "A nice warm shower, then off to work. Hopefully Vegeta won't bug me too much this week."

**~S~  
**

That evening just happened to be the first time Vegeta had come back to her for light medical attention. She almost wanted to rip out her hair when he waltzed down the stairs and up to her desk. "What do you need?" she asked, letting the agitation slip into her voice.

He walked over to her and sniffed. "You smell different, woman." He turned to show her his back.

In the middle of his back was a large red mark. "Gee, thanks, Vegeta. You smell, too," she bit out sarcastically as she reached to open the drawer his supplies were in.

He grunted. "It's not that!" He was a little embarrassed to bring it up, but there probably wasn't a way around it. Unless he ignored it.

"Then what do you mean?" She closed the drawer harshly, and he sat on her desk.

"Never mind," he growled out.

As she began coating the wound with the salve, her eyes traveled down to the stump. Just sitting there so innocently and out in the open. He didn't seem to be in a _horrible_ mood. It would be the perfect the opportunity to test how he reacted when under normal circumstances-instead of during the heat-of-moment-but that would just be cruel, wouldn't it?

She bit her bottom lip, playing through all the scenarios that could happen if she attempted this. 'Maybe if I start slow.' She gave a slight nod of her head. As she pulled her hand back, the tip of her fingers barely brushed the protrusion.

A tingle ran up his spine, and his eyes narrowed. What was she doing? She surely wouldn't even think about it?

She smiled as she saw his muscles tense for a brief second. 'Good.' Now, how to get a better feel? She could just go for it, right? After all, that's what she'd done the first time. Although she had really only believed that it had caused him pain, and she'd felt a little bad about it afterwards. Now she knew it wasn't just pain he felt. No, she gave a cruel chuckle in her head, it wasn't just pain.

"Hurry it up!" he barked. He knew she was up to something. He knew she was slow, but this was just ridiculous-especially for only one spot. Granted it covered most of his back, but still. He huffed as he felt her fingers back on his skin. Wait, both her hands were now on his back. Before he could get away, the tingling in his spine returned. Only this time it was so much more. His blood pumped faster as the adrenaline kicked in.

'Wow!' She couldn't believe it was that easy. Here she'd been trying all week to get at it, and even at the height of passion he still seemed to be on guard about it. Sure she'd gotten in a few good feels, but each time had landed her almost begging for her life. In fact, one of those times, he'd just up and left her after getting her apology! She could only begin to wonder what he would do now. At least he wasn't attacking her….yet.

A loud growl ripped through the silence, as he finally moved away from her. She still sat sideways on the middle of the desk, so he turned and planted his hands firmly at the edge. His face mere inches away from hers. His eyes taking on the invisible fire of death. "What the fuck is wrong with you, woman?"

She bit her bottom lip again, and tried to look innocent.

The sinister chuckle returned as he looked into those bottomless oceans she called eyes. "Acting cute and innocent doesn't do shit for me, woman. I thought you would know that by now, seeing as you're a genius. Or is that just a fraud as well?" he sneered.

Her visage turned red, and she bumped her forehead to his. "Does it look like a fucking fraud to you? Do you not see all these blueprints, tools, and parts spread around this lab? Do they look fucking fake?" she screamed in his face. "Just because you don't scare me, doesn't make me some brain-dead bimbo!"

He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger before she could pull back. "Sometimes I wonder. The only other person around here that isn't afraid is your mother, correct? You may be smart around technical shit, but you seem to be rather foolish when it comes to me."

"Oh yes because the world revolves around Prince fucking Vegeta!" She almost rolled her eyes, but stopped at the last second. She knew she was pushing her limits as it was; she wasn't about to take her eyes off him for a second. "You may have been a prince out in space, but you aren't here. Got it?"

He pushed her back, a little more force put into it than he had intended, but he didn't feel bad about it. She needed to learn her place, and if after a week of being under him hadn't taught her manners…..Well then, that was her own fault.

She caught herself as he thrust her away by her chin. She was glad for her quick reflexes or else she might've done some damage to herself. She looked down to make sure she hadn't broken anything or that she wasn't about to knock something off, before looking back up.

He was still standing there. His arms folded across his broad chest and looking down his regal nose at her. She had dug herself way too deep in a hole here, hadn't she? And she still didn't have her answer.

"Why do you keep risking your life for something so unimportant?" he asked darkly.

"Because. How could something that stimulates you also make you go on the defense?" There, she'd said it. He'd asked, so she had answered truthfully. Hopefully scoring another point to his "not kill" tally.

He smirked. The only way to learn was by example, right? He reached out, his hand cupping her breast. He saw her hand move to knock it away, most likely. That was until the fingers of said hand dug into the soft flesh and twisted roughly.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream before her brain started working again and she finally managed to grab his hand and push. He reluctantly let go with a laugh. "You bastard! What was that for?"

"You said you wanted to know how something could cause pain and pleasure. So I showed you, since you don't seem to listen." He patted her head gently, still holding his cruel smirk. "Maybe next time you'll know better. That, or I'll just have to teach you a real lesson instead of just threats."

She pushed his arm with her right hand, as her left hand massaged her abused breast. "You can leave now." He turned to walk away, so she called to his back, "and you can forget about getting any for a while."

He looked over his shoulder. "Already planned on it. Remember that I can smell things far more easily than you humans."

Her hand fisted and she lightly punched the desk. 'Arrogant prick!'

**~S~  
**

For the rest of the week she avoided Vegeta like the plague. Before leaving her room she always checked to make sure he was training. She made sure to eat her meals on time and no midnight snacks, no matter how late she worked.

She was also more than ecstatic when her period ended a few days early, and she was still able to stay clear of Vegeta. She slightly wondered, though, if he was still mad at her. She only shrugged her shoulders and continued on with her daily routines.

It was a few days later when she was getting ready to enjoy her lunch that her mother approached her.

When Bulma had entered the kitchen she noticed that her mother had been stacking a tray full of food. 'No question who that's for.' Bulma had rolled her eyes and moved on to the fridge to get some lunch. She had just sat down when her mother turned her, as if just noticing she was in the same room.

"Bulma, dear, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it, Mom?" She couldn't even begin to enjoy her lunch when her mother answered.

"Mr. Vegeta hasn't been eating lately. I'm getting awful worried about him. So, I was making up this tray for him and was going to take it to him, but since you're here. I'm sure he'd appreciate getting his food from a beautiful, single woman like you." Her mother sighed. "If only I were single and twenty years younger."

Bulma almost choked on the bite she had taken. She would never understand her mother's way of thinking. "I'm sure he doesn't mind who brings him food. As long as he's getting fed," she told her mother.

"Thank you, sweetie. I'm sure Mr. Vegeta will enjoy his lunch more with your company."

Bulma saw the twinkle in her mother's eyes as she passed by on the way out of the kitchen. She groaned. 'Guess there's no more avoiding.' She ate what she could of her lunch before grabbing the tray and heading outside.

She banged on the opening to the ship. "I'VE GOT LUNCH!" she yelled, just to make sure she wouldn't be ignored. The ship shut down and the hatch opened. When he didn't appear at the opening, she figured he was still mad and probably didn't want to see her.

So, when she passed through the opening, she was surprised when it closed shut behind her and the tray of food was knocked from her hand. She gasped as she was pressed against the wall.

"If you think this is getting you back in my good graces, you are sorely mistaken, woman," he growled in her face. His hot breath puffing out onto her face, making her close her eyes.

"My mother gave me no choice," she hissed. "So if you'd please let me go, I'll kindly get out of your way." She opened her eyes as he pulled away from her.

He gave her a curious look before heading over to pick up the spilled food. "You should've just ignored the ditz."

Bulma slid down to the wall to sit on the floor. 'Well, apparently he's not too mad,' she thought as she watched him pick up the food, eating it right off the floor. "She said you hadn't been eating lately, and from the way you're eating I'd say she was right." She was grossed out but intrigued all in the same breath. It was almost like watching a wild animal.

He glanced her way and saw the look she was giving him. "I won't have good food go to waste," he stated.

"Says the man who used to think I would poison his food when he wasn't looking," she chastised.

"Hn. Could you blame me? You were constantly up my ass about everything. Bitching and moaning every time I went to your father, or when your mother cooked for me. It seemed to me that you pretty eager to get rid of me after the Namekians left, and I wasn't going to put anything past you. As I've come to find out, you are quite the conniving bitch."

"I wasn't going to try to kill you. You were just an asshole. Well, you still are," she sighed. "That doesn't mean you deserve to die."

He lifted an eyebrow. He'd killed for that reason and less under Frieza's command. He looked down to the mess that was left on the floor without saying a word to her. He stood up and went down the stairs.

She was about to push herself up and either follow him or leave, but he came back carrying a towel. She kept her mouth shut as she watched him clean up the mess that had been left by the food. Her mouth almost dropped to the floor. 'He's actually cleaning up after himself?' She thought that it was a feat she would never witness. The Saiyan Prince doing dirty work!

"What?" he growled as he noticed her staring. "I told you before that I can take care of myself." Shit, he'd let his guard down! She'd actually been quiet and he'd forgotten for the brief moment-that her mouth had been shut-that she was still there.

She smiled softly. "I can see. Maybe next time you'll fix the GR when _you_ break it again."

He smirked before stalking over to her and crouching down. "I wouldn't be counting your lucky stars on that one, woman." A hand came up to brush through her blue locks before stopping at the back of her head. "You're over your female problems, yes?"

She blushed lightly at the question. "You already know the answer, so just kiss me." She leaned in the few inches and pressed her lips to his. He didn't respond, so she pulled back. "Asshole," she spit out, feeling her body tingle with anger.

"That's more like it." The hand resting on the back of her head pushed her back toward him, his lips pressing to hers this time. When she didn't respond, he bit down on her bottom lip, pulling the skin between his teeth and sucking on it until she moaned. He pulled back, his smirk still plastered on his lips. "You give up way too easily."

She held her temper at bay. "Is that what you think?" she asked, a smirk of her own appearing.


	11. Comeuppance and Backfires

Prompt: "Lover".

**A/N: **I have to thank all the lovely people who have faved/watched/reviewed this story :D I'm glad so many of you are enjoying it ^^

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER DOES CONTAIN ADULT MATERIAL. SO IF YOU ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH OR OFFENDED BY SUCH THINGS, PLEASE DO NOT READ. (Also, if I need to edit this any, please let me know via comment or message!)**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.  
**

Her hands rested on his chest, as she smirked at him. "Perhaps it's not that I give up too easily. It's just that you never give me a chance. Ripping off my clothes when I'm trying to be angry at you…."

He pulled her back in for a rough kiss before pushing her away again. "Maybe it's that you talk too fucking much," he bit out.

Her hands ran from their spot on his chest, up his shoulders, and into his sweat soaked hair. "Could be."

Her fingers dug into his hair and pressed onto his scalp. He had luckily been a little more relaxed than usual, making her job easier. She put as much force as she could into her pressing fingers, making his lips come to hers. Her teeth instantly grabbing hold of his bottom lip-just as he had done to her-nipping and sucking on the soft flesh. After she was done, her tongue soothed the abuse she had done.

His tongue darted out to meet hers, easily pushing her tongue back where it belonged. His own fingers pressing hard on her scalp and tilting her head slightly to bring their mouths closer. His eyes remained opened, not yet ready to let his guard down. He felt her fingers dig a little deeper into his skin, her nails now pressing a bit too harshly into the flesh. As he felt the nails making a trail from the back of his head, down his neck, and to his shoulder blades, he redoubled his efforts with his tongue.

Her nails pressed into the hardened flesh of his shoulders as he nearly choked her. His tongue swept the roof of her mouth and as far back as he could go. She had been paying too much attention at trying to distract him and perhaps getting a little distracted herself, than keeping an actual eye on him. Her eyes cracked open to meet slit black orbs. 'Damn!' Her tongue swept up to meet his and forcing it back to the front of her mouth.

His hand drifted from it's spot on her head to her back. Her eyes widened slightly before she quickly pulled back. "Wait!" she held up her hand, as she smashed her back-along with his hand-to the wall. She saw the narrowed eyes and quickly explained, "If you rip my clothes off out here, I have nothing else to wear."

"And that's my problem how?" He could easily push her from the wall, but decided to listen.

"Mother's already seen me in this outfit today, and I'm sure she'll notice me running through the house naked. That or I'll make you fly to my room and get me more clothes. Either situation is bound to be a tip off, don't ya think?" She held his gaze, as she felt his fingers twitching at her back. 'Don't you dare! I will make you do something about it' she thought to herself as she watched him contemplate her words.

His fingertips pressed into her soft flesh, making her back arch off the wall. His palm easily pushed her forward, and her chest collided with his as her face instinctively pressed into his neck.

His mouth covered her ear. "I suppose that was part of the deal," he whispered before pushing her off again.

She growled, her teeth clenched and lips parted. "Would you stop throwing me around like a rag doll?"

"No," his tone that of a spoiled child. "And if you wish to keep your clothes intact, I suggest you get out of here." He had played a little too much with her, and his restraint was getting low.

He couldn't get her all worked up and tell her to leave! Her hands lowered to the floor, the low cut top showing off more cleavage as she crawled the few paces between them. Her hands rested on either side of his hips as she looked up at him.

He was sitting on his knees, legs bent underneath him, and his hands pressed on the floor beside him from where he had been getting ready to push himself up. "Woman," he growled lowly, keeping an eye on her.

"I thought the Prince of all Saiyans was a master of control, and yet he can't keep himself from ripping a woman's clothing off." She lifted a hand to press a finger against her lip thoughtfully.

The warning growl continued as he bared his teeth, but he still made no move. He had control, if he hadn't she would've been dead a long time ago. Back before she had proven her worth and was only a spoiled little rich girl.

"Or maybe it's just that you can't control yourself around me." The hand that had risen to her mouth dropped to his thigh. Her fingers slithered along the inside of said thigh, but stopped just short of reaching their ultimate goal. "I may not be able to smell like you do, but there are other ways to see if you're aroused." She nipped at his chin, letting her fingers finally brush against his semi-erection. She was about to pull away when one of his hands stopped her.

"Finish what you started, woman."

She didn't know whether to be pissed or happy. On one hand, he was being an asshole about it; on the other hand, he was letting her touch him. He hadn't let her have any sort of control since that first night. She looked up at him, his face serious but challenging. Her fingers wrapped around his cloth covered length, and his hand finally replaced itself back on the floor.

"This is what you wanted, right? The dominate role," his voice was smooth as silk, although for a second she thought she heard a slight purr to it.

"Don't tell me you're just going to give me the lead." Her fingers squeezed tightly around him, hoping to get a reaction.

"I like it rough, just like you." This time his voice did a hold a purr to it, as he pressed his hips up. "So don't be gentle." He leaned in so he could nibble at her ear. "As I've already told you, I'm not like that weakling of an ex-boyfriend you had." He pulled back, his face still set in the serious mask. "Aside from that, you're pressing your luck and taking too damn long." His hand reached over to tug at her shorts. "You said your mother sent you out here, right?"

Bulma gasped. He was right, and here she was playing around and taking all the time in the world. She sat up and away from him, her hands going up her own shirt.

"Don't worry about that. Just take off your bottoms," he told her. She gave him a suspicious look. "You better hurry or you will be losing all your clothes."

She glared at him, but shimmed out of her shorts and panties. 'If it weren't for mother!' she cursed to herself. She was getting ready to take her shoes off when she was pushed back on the tiling. Her legs were lifted into the air and thrown over his shoulder. "Hey!" she shouted, finally getting a look at him. There was a devious smirk planted on his lips, and his eyes held an intensity that she didn't like.

Fingers danced across her left hip, under her thigh and dipping only slightly to tickle her bottom, before getting back on course to tease her folds.

"Vegeta," she gasped. She couldn't hold back the small twitch and thrust of her hips at his feather light touch. "I thought we agreed there wasn't enough time…." Her sentence cut off as a single digit entered her, followed by a second. She couldn't help but close her eyes at the sensation.

Vegeta only continued to smirk as the woman writhed on the floor. Her hips now pushing up as his fingers descended into her warmth. He would give her what she wanted now, but he was expecting to take what he would need later.

Her hips followed the rhythm of his fingers, starting out at a slow pace and gradually picking up. As the pace increased, so did her moans and incoherent pleas. She didn't even notice when he began maneuvering her around.

His ego now boosted, he used his free hand to throw her shoes and shorts off her legs. He took her left leg, swinging it to it's respective side before setting it down on the floor. Then doing the same to the right.

Her hips shot off the floor at the cool sensation of his tongue now joining his fingers. Her hands-which had been grasping and clawing at the useless tile-quickly found his flame swept hair and combed through it before lightly pulling at the ends. She could feel her eyes rolling back into her head as her orgasm came closer and closer to the surface with each lap of his tongue.

"VEGETA!" His name reverberated around the walls of the GR/Spaceship. His ego satisfied for the moment. "Please stop," her voice a panting gasp as she pulled at his hair, trying to make him stop his torture.

He sat up, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm. The smirk had never seemed to wane from his face, along with the intensity of eyes.

Her legs pressed together and stretched out along the floor. Her right arm threw itself over her sweaty forehead. She had never pictured Vegeta as the type of man to go down on a woman, so what his game? She figured that he would at least want the favor returned. She sat up slowly, her right arm sliding back down to give support along with her left.

Vegeta was already standing, and gathering the clothing he had thrown from her legs. He tossed the articles back at her before turning his back to her and heading toward the console.

Bulma pinched her lips together as she stood and silently put her clothing back on. She looked towards his back before going to put her shoes on. Surely he wasn't done, was he?

"What?" he growled.

She finished putting her shoes on and walked over to him. Her arms wrapping around his waist. Her fingertips skimming the top of his shorts.

"Leave, woman." His hands grabbed her wandering fingers and pushed her arms away.

She huffed, stepping back from him as he finally turned to face her. His arms were crossed, but he still had that damn smirk on his lips. "But you didn't get…."

"Do I need to remind you again?"

She gave him a confused look. He walked away from the console, going back toward where they had just been. Then she saw the tray still sitting on the floor. 'Shit!' How did she always seem to lose her mind around Vegeta?

Vegeta picked up the tray and tossed it at her feet. "Your mother. Do you remember now, idiot?" he told her as he walked back.

She picked up the tray, tucking it under her arm. "Sorry I worried about your needs!" she argued, feeling just a little bit guilty.

"I am a master of control," he threw her words back in her face.

She grit her teeth and stomped a foot on the ground. "You're an asshole! A fucking cocky bastard!" she spit.

His smirk only widened. "That you enjoy fucking." Oh, he could play this game all day if she wanted to, but he had training to do.

Her teeth ground together. She needed to get back inside before her mother would get any funny, but accurate, thoughts. "I hope you enjoyed your lunch, Prince Asshole." She turned to leave before she continued to rant even more.

"I did, conniving bitch," he called to her back.

She didn't even turn around, just held up a hand with her middle finger in the air.

He let that one go. If he didn't he knew she would never leave, or he wouldn't have let her leave. He was definitely going to need a cold shower before continuing his day of training.

**~S~**

She was pissed! No, she was beyond pissed! That cocky little bastard had gotten the best of her. She had been on the receiving end of the pleasure while he got none, yet she was the one that felt terrible about it! What a fucking asshole!

She took a deep breath. 'Calm down. It's probably some sick Saiyan thing he gets off on.' She smirked, maybe she could tease him about that next time she saw him. She was sure to get a rise out of him that way, right?

She continued working on her latest blueprint, content to work out all the stress no matter how long it took. She had skipped dinner because she had been so mad. That and she didn't want her mother asking her anymore questions. She had already gotten enough when she'd returned to the kitchen after her episode with Vegeta.

Her mother had been there cooking. What was new? Of course her mother, being her mother, asked if Vegeta enjoyed the meal? To which Bulma had replied he had enjoyed his lunch, very much-without blushing. Which she had given herself a mental pat on the back for that. Then her mother started asking how her and Vegeta were getting along and if they were dating yet, since she hadn't seen Yamcha around lately.

'Ugh, mother really has a knack for hitting the nail on the head when it comes to relationships or lack thereof.' Of course, her mother had been deeming Vegeta more worthy of her daughter's time than Yamcha had been. Perhaps that was one of the many reasons why she and Yamcha had broken up. She knew Yamcha seemed to have an inferiority complex when it came to Vegeta, and her mother constantly blabbing about how "handsome" the Saiyan was probably hadn't helped.

Then coupled with how she, herself, had reacted when Vegeta about killed himself when he blew up the GR. She blew out a puff of air. Her relationship with Yamcha had been going downhill long before Vegeta had shown up, though. Apparently her showing any kind of interest in saving the man that had a hand in killing her then-boyfriend was the breaker.

He hadn't gotten mad at her, though, he had just voiced his concerns. Along with finally telling her that he was going to train out in the desert, as he had so many times in the past. It was like a ritual to him before a big tournament, and she knew this day would be coming at some point during the long three years. He had proceeded to tell her that he didn't trust Vegeta around her. That if she asked him to stay, he would. If only to protect her from the "evil Saiyan".

Unfortunately, she had been the one to blow up. Going on her usual rant of him always leaving her when she needed him most. Then contradicting herself and saying that she didn't need him to help fend off Vegeta. That sure her and Vegeta may have fought like cats and dogs, but he had never laid a hand on her or given any cause for alarm. Hell, the alien man had been staying as far away from her as he could get.

She pounded a fist down on her desk, the pen falling from her grasp. Thinking back on the argument, it was pretty childish of her to say the things she had said. Yet at the time it seemed so important to get it all out. She shook her head, standing from her chair in a fit of her conflicting emotions.

Her eyes went wide as she heard her chair being pushed aside, and the wind got knocked out of her as a pair of strong muscled arms wrapped around her midsection and pulled her back into an even stronger and more muscled chest. Her heart stopped for a few beats. How long had he been standing there? Probably waiting for this exact moment to attack, too.

"What?" she now growled at him. She knew why he was here. What other purpose had he had? Aside from medical treatment, which he most likely didn't need, since she was pressed against him and his hand was already moving toward a breast.

"I came to collect my payment," his hot breath caressed her ear. His hand reaching her breast, squeezing it before letting a single finger press roughly against her nipple and stroke it through the layers of clothing.

As her body finally relaxed, and she pushed her bottom against him, she could feel his hardness pressing just above the crack of her ass. The feel of his already hardened length, kicking her own arousal into gear despite her slight anger.

"I gave you what you needed earlier. So it's only fair that I get to take what I want now."

"I never asked for that!" she protested, as he nudged her forward with his hips.

He bit down on her ear causing her to yelp. "Because you never got a chance to ask."

She knew he was wearing that infuriating smirk as his lips now brushed lightly against her neck then back up to her ear. "You're just so full of yourself, aren't you?"

He bit a little more harshly on her earlobe; her hips involuntarily pressing against him. "I didn't hear a 'no' or 'stop' passing your lips." He took a step back from her, his hands running under the shoulders of her long white lab coat. He pushed the material from her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground between them. His hands then slid along her arms, catching her before she had an opportunity to face him.

She was about to protest again, but the words died in her lungs when she felt the odd sensation of cool silk brushing against her bare calves. She tried to crane her neck, but his mouth was pressing firmly against ear again. His hands had traveled down her arms and were now grabbing and lifting her hands to rest them on her desktop.

"You weren't waiting for me like a good girl," he rasped against her neck, nipping a bit at the soft flesh.

Her eyebrows raised then narrowed at his words. 'A good girl?' She was suddenly glad that he couldn't see her face. She may have been a sitting duck in the GR, but not tonight. Not in her lab. Not after she'd already had her release and he hadn't!

Since her hands were trapped under his, she used her leg. Moving the appendage back to run slightly up his leg to feel the silk covering his skin. She was going to take a very big guess now and say that he was wearing something other than his training shorts. She vaguely wondered if he was actually wearing underwear or if he was still going commando underneath his choice of clothing. Did it really matter in the end? She smirked.

Feeling her leg run up the side of his, he smirked. "I showered and found these pants among my belongings. I have to admit, they are quite comfortable."

Bulma's smirk grew wider. "Silk is a very fine, teasing fabric." She pushed her butt back against him again, grinding lightly. "I'm not surprised you like it," she said playfully as she continued to rub against him, rotating her hips just enough to tease him.

His teeth scrapped along his bottom lip as she let the soft silk ghost across his erection before pressing a little more aggressively against the fabric so that it was now caressing him. Damn, perhaps avoiding his release earlier and deciding to wear Earth clothing were not the brightest ideas he'd had recently.

"How's that control of yours holding up?" she teased as his hands loosened their hold on hers.

"You're about to find out, woman," he growled in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. His left hand moved from hers and easily maneuvered under her thin T-shirt. His right hand not too far behind as he reached her bra and pushed it up over her breasts. His hips moving forward to grind a little harder against her ass.

She gasped at the roughness of his actions, but it only seemed to fuel her own cruelty towards him. She guided her lower body away from his, but a hand left her breast to smooth down her stomach and press her back.

"It wouldn't be in your best interest to be a cock tease," he warned. He could normally tolerate her teasing, but not tonight. He had been waiting for this moment since she left the GR this afternoon.

"I wasn't," she snipped. "I was actually thinking of returning the favor you gave me earlier."

His eyebrows raised in slight suspicion. "And why would you want to do that?" he asked curiously.

"It's called being nice. Here on Earth we do things for others that have helped us out earlier."

"Tch. I've seen how you Earthlings act towards each other." He was about to continue, until he felt fingers brush across the bare skin of his hip bone.

"Will you let me taste you?" She wished he would let her turn around. Her words would probably be more effective if she could give him a seductive look to go along with them. His fingers, though, only dug into the soft flesh of her stomach, keeping her attempt to break free to only a thought.

"No," his answer coming out in a puff of breath against her shoulder. He didn't have much restraint left, and he wasn't about to give her the upper hand over him. It was bad enough as it was, as he continued to press her luscious ass against his throbbing length. Her slender fingers were feather light against his skin, only fueling his need.

'Geez, wasn't it every guys fantasy to have the girl request to go down on him? But here was Vegeta, turning down said request!' So she redoubled her efforts to her fingers, giving him the barest of touches just underneath the band of his pants. "You're sure? I may not offer again." She knew if she didn't get to him soon, all would be lost. His hormones were meshing with hers, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could continue to play this teasing game before she would cave into the numbing pleasure they both knew was coming.

He grunted. His hand that had been holding her stomach moved to grab her wondering fingers. "If I wanted something from you, why would I wait for an offer?" He guided the hand to her shorts. "Take them off." He could feel her body tense against his. Her skin heating and flushing with slight anger. "You owe me."

His words stopped her own mouth from forming the verbal lashing she was about to give him. Instead she only asked, "For what? For earlier? I already told you…."

"No," his voice rough and commanding in her ear. "For that shit you pulled last week." When she didn't respond or seem to know what he was talking about he continued. "With my tail spot. Playing around with it like it was a fucking toy. You're lucky I didn't throw you down on your knees right then."

She gulped. His words igniting two very different flames inside her, yet both meeting directly in the center of her body. His hand, which was still holding hers, guided it lower against her shorts. "Maybe I would've liked that," she answered, her mind determined not to let him win this round. Her fingers took the initiative to dip between her thighs as she leaned back against him.

His eyes watched as her hand left his of it's own accord. He pressed against her as she leaned back against chest. His hands moved to rest on her hips, before pushing her shirt up over breasts and reclaiming their spot on the plump orbs. He rested his chin atop her shoulder, as his eyes fixed upon her self-pleasuring fingers. "Why am I not surprised by such a vulgar answer from you," he rasped as his fingers started petting and rolling her already hardened nipples.

She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, slowing the actions of her fingers as she felt a rush of heat down her spine and a tightening in her stomach. She was losing! She had to think…..think! The slight roughness of the pads of his fingers grazed across her sensitive flesh. 'THINK!' His hot breath making her neck warm and damp. 'Damn it, Bulma! You're a real idiot sometimes!' she yelled at herself as she felt a hand slip from her breast.

"I didn't tell you to stop." His right hand slid from her breast to cup her left hand, adding pressuring to the fingers and making them stroke against the material that covered her once again.

The words hit her flesh, bouncing off the sweaty skin, and back to ear. Unfortunately the words had taken too long to reach her dizzying her brain. She gasped at the newly added pressure to her center, making her hips snap back against him. She heard and felt the low groan that crawled up his throat and passed through barely parted lips. The small slip made her brain come back into focus. She gave him a low moan as her free hand slipped to her shorts, undoing them quickly, before lifting their hands away so the shorts could fall freely to the ground.

Vegeta smirked as he caught site of the powder blue cotton panties. Those hadn't been the pair she was wearing earlier when she was in the GR with him. He was about to make a teasing remark, but her hand-along with his-dove back between her thighs.

She thrust her hips away from his, their fingers tormenting her fragile mind and overly sensitive skin, but all she had to do was not lose! At this point the only option was to hope for a stalemate. As long as she could keep her mind occupied with her task instead of what she was feeling coursing through her stomach and up her spine. Her right hand moved backward, skipping the teasing touches her left hand had been giving him mere moments ago. She went straight for her prize, her digits easily passing the hem of silk to grasp warm, hard, velvety flesh.

He growled. He had been so intent on torturing her and so sure that her mind was a puddle of pleasure, that he hadn't thought about the strength of her determination. "Sneaky little bitch," he rasped the insult half-heartedly. His hold on her hand lessening as she lightly stroked him.

With his attentions distracted, she easily turned around to face him. A smirk was set upon her features. "Thanks for the compliment." Her now freed left hand swept up to push his pants down, baring his naked flesh to her eyes. "Now are you gonna fuck me or do you have another countermove?" She wasn't expecting his response, and he was so quick that she didn't have time to get mad.

A smirk of his own crossed his lips as he reached behind her, his arm and hand sweeping all the contents of her desk to the floor. His hand then swept back to latch onto her panties, tearing the fabric off her. Then he proceeded to back her onto her desk, having her in the same position from earlier-legs thrown over his shoulder with shoes and shorts still attached. He saw the flash of anger pass over her face before he easily pushed into her, tearing a moan from her throat instead of an angry retort.

He gave her no time to gather her thoughts and mind back into order, as he set a fast and rough pace. His lower body grinding and lightly rotating against hers, easily hitting all her hot spots, and sending her into the mind-numbing pleasure she'd been waiting for. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk, feeling the sharp edges dig into her flesh. Her mouth opened and her back arched slightly to push her hips closer to his-if that was even possible at this point.

Vegeta gripped her hips, holding her against him as his own release hit. It hit him harder than expected, and he couldn't help the growl that escaped from his throat.

Bulma's mind slowly came back to reality. Feeling the pressure of the desk's edge digging into her fingers; she released her hold and curled the digits to relieve some of the stiffness from them. She tried to move her legs, but she looked over to see that they were hooked awkwardly over Vegeta's upper arm. Shorts still covering her lower legs, so she couldn't separate the sweaty appendages. She looked up to meet dark eyes and not sure if she should say something or not. So, she just stared up at him and gave him a satisfied smile.

He pulled out of, glad she was keeping her mouth shut. Letting her legs fall from their place on his arm to the ground, he quickly pulled up his pants and grabbed her. She let out a strangled cry as he threw her over his shoulder.

"What the hell, Vegeta," she tried to yell, but her lungs were still winded from their previous activity and being slung over his shoulder.

He nipped at her hip. "I'm not done with you, and I'm sure you'd prefer to be somewhere more comfortable," he stated as he moved towards the stairs.

"I can walk," she complained, squirming just a little. Her eyes were stuck watching the muscles of his backside rolling under his skin as he walked.

He opened the door of the lab and zipped through the house at super speed. Entering her room, he easily tossed her onto the bed before discarding his pants.

Bulma rested a hand against forehead and tried to get her eyes to focus. "Alright, so you didn't walk," she said quietly as she finally looked over to him. He was already climbing onto the bed with a devilish smirk. 'No rest for the wicked,' she thought before being attacked again.


	12. Unexpected

Prompt: "Empty House".

**A/N: **Again, have to say thanks for the faves/watches ^^ I really appreciate the support! Other than that, hope you all enjoy this chapter! And please tell me if Vegeta doesn't sound right or if I progressed too fast XD I'm trying to keep in mind, though, that **I think **Vegeta would start acting a little different towards Bulma as their "affair" progresses.

**WARNING: THERE IS ADULT CONTENT AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. IF IT NEEDS EDITING OF ANY KIND, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!**

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**  
**

Heavy eyelids cracked open at the sound of an alarm going off. An even heavier feeling arm reached out of the covers to turn the blaring noise off. One bad thing about spontaneous sex: only getting a few hours rest before needing to be at work. Of course, she supposed she could always take the day off, since she'd done a lot of work last night. She closed her eyes again, playing with the idea of just laying in bed all day. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she pushed the blankets away from her body.

"I can't let these nightly escapades disrupt my daytime responsibilities," she told herself. Her stomach muscles screamed in protest as she sat up. A hand rested on the overworked spot. "Fucking Vegeta," she muttered. She laughed lightly as she caught the double implication.

She really shouldn't have been surprised at how rough and fast their couplings had been last night. After a week of not getting any, combined with their need to both dominate. Then, after all that was done, she had gone back and picked up the lab before her father went down and found the mess they had left.

She shook her head as she swung her feet over the edge and stood up before quickly sitting back down. Her thighs and calves burning from the heavy-duty work-out they had received and not getting the cool down exercises to keep the muscles from cramping.

"It's like the first night all over again," she muttered as she finally stood back up and headed toward the bathroom. "I guess I should inspect for any spots that need covered up." If her body hurt this badly, she was sure she was bound to find some markings on her soft flesh.

She approached the full-length mirror, noting the bags under her eyes and the way her body wasn't standing as straight as it usually did. She couldn't make out any discoloration on her top half, though, causing her to be a bit surprised. As she stepped closer, she could make out a few tiny red marks that were sure to fade within the next few hours, but nothing that wouldn't need extra hiding. She turned to the side, checking her hips and legs. Again, nothing. She looked in the mirror to see her surprised face deepen in thought.

Vegeta had inflicted that much roughness on her body, but left her skin unmarred-well, except for where his mouth had latched onto. She went to turn on the shower, thoughts still processing in her waking brain. Perhaps it wasn't that he worked her too hard, maybe her body had just been "out of shape"-what with the week long vacation it had taken. She stepped under the warm spray of water, the beads pelting against her muscles and massaging them lightly. She relaxed a little, enjoying what little help the water offered her sore muscles.

After getting her shower and dressed for the day, she headed downstairs and into the kitchen where she found her mother cleaning a mountain of dishes. Apparently she had dragged ass a little too much this morning if she'd missed Vegeta's morning feeding. She shuffled her feet toward the coffeepot, and pouring herself a cup.

"You just missed Mister Vegeta, dear," her mother started, not even turning her attention away from the dish she wiping. "He was in a surprisingly good mood."

"Hm." Bulma sipped at her black coffee, blowing a bit over the top of the mug. "Good for him," she muttered, leaning back against the counter.

Mrs. Briefs finally looked over at her daughter. "Were you up late again?"

Bulma gave her mother a short nod.

"Well then you should go back to bed. I'm sure it's not a big deal if you go in late."

Bulma took another small sip before shaking her head. "It's just not right, Mom. I mean, it's my own fault for staying up so late. What kind of future president of the company would I be if I can't get my act together?"

"Well, you were up working on your projects, right? It's not like it was for personal reasons. Was it?" Her mother's smile grew ten times brighter with the thought alone.

She lifted her mug in an attempt to hide her face, yet pretending she was still blowing the steam off the top of her drink. "Of course it was work related," Bulma answered, trying to hold back the contempt in her voice.

"Of course." Her mother's glowing smile never faltering. "If that is the case, then you shouldn't feel bad for at least getting a few more hours of sleep."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "That's not the point." Her shoulders tensed a little as her mother just kept staring at her, almost willing her to tell the truth of the situation. "I kinda gave up on my project without finishing it last night, and I really wanted to get it done. So, I was gonna finish it, hopefully before lunch. Then maybe I can get a nap in afterwards." Ugh, since when did she need to make up such poor stories to appease her mother's curiosity? How many times was it now that she'd had to give some bullshit excuse to get her mother off her back in the last few weeks? Too many!

The blonde just continued to smile, but finally went back to scrubbing plates. "Alright, dear. I'm only thinking of your health. It can't be good to go down and work on machines with no sleep," her mother supplied.

"I'll be fine. I've got my coffee." She raised her mug before taking a bigger sip of the cooling liquid. "And I won't work with tools. I'm just drawing up a plan." Bulma gave her mother a smile before heading down to get some work done.

**~S~**

Fingers grazed her bare arm, running from the shoulder to her elbow. They curled around the bone, pulling her into a strong body. The heat she usually felt emanating, gone. In place of the scorching skin was cold steel. She looked up, finding his eyes that only further chilled her to the bone. The look in the dark depths matching the coldness that was radiating off his bare chest. His infamous smirk planted in place, making her body tremble. She wasn't sure if it was fear or anticipation she was trembling from, but it didn't matter, did it?

"Bulma."

The one word she'd been dying to hear passed his lips in such a gentle and passionate tone-so different from the stiffness of his body and menacing look still covering his face. She gave him a confused look. His voice, it didn't sound right either. It was different and not just because of the unusually soft tone he was using.

"Wake up."

She jerked awake, her eyes scanning the area to find her father. A hand came to rest over her wildly beating heart. "Sorry, Dad, I must've dozed off there." Her other hand reached up to wipe at her mouth.

He offered her a small smile as he petted the tiny black cat on his shoulder, calming the creature down from Bulma's sudden jolt. "Your mother did seem worried that you hadn't gotten much sleep."

"Yeah, I was up late working on plans." She turned to her desk, looking at the blueprints to see a small puddle of drool where her head had been resting. 'Real nice,' she thought as she turned her attention back to her father. "So, what's up?"

"Well, I have a business meeting to go to in the morning. It's out of town, so I'll be gone a few days."

Bulma nodded. "Alright. I know what to do, Dad. I'll check up on Capsule and make sure it's running smoothly, get the daily reports…."

"Your mother insists that she come with me," Dr. Briefs interrupted his daughter without missing a beat. "Will you be okay?" he asked after a moments pause.

She blinked. Once, twice. "Being alone with Vegeta," she said quietly, so many different thoughts firing around in her brain. 'Alone. With Vegeta. For two whole days. Would she be okay?' Then her thoughts ran to her father. The man was standing there, unconsciously stroking the shoulder cat between it's ears. "I'll be fine. We've come to a sort-of understanding with each other over the last few months." Her father shot her a skeptical look. Bulma gave him a soft smile. "As long as we stay out of each other's way. Besides, he hasn't done anything to me yet."

Dr. Briefs nodded. "Yes, I'm sure you'll be fine. I must say that I'm also a bit surprised how much the young man has changed since he first started living here." The old man looked down at his daughter. "Each time he comes to demand something, he's always a little less threatening about it," he said with a smile. He stopped for a minute, ready to turn and leave before suddenly remembering something else. "Speaking of Vegeta. Lunch is ready, so if you want any, you better hurry before he eats it all."

She pushed herself from her chair. "Thanks, Dad." Before she could get too far, she was caught by her arm.

His face was serious, lips turned into a slight frown. "And do try to get more sleep. I don't want you collapsing down here with nobody to find you."

Bulma gave him a short nod, chewing on her bottom lip lightly. "I'll be sure to do that."

Her father's rough hand let her go, and he gave her another small smile before wandering off.

When Bulma arrived in the kitchen, she saw that Vegeta was still eating and her mother was humming while stirring something in a pot. She glanced at Vegeta, who very quickly looked from his food, to her, then back down. She put a smile on and went to grab a plate.

"Good afternoon, Mother."

The blonde stopped what she was doing and turned toward her daughter. Her hands clasped together and her face brightened. "Did your father find you?"

"Yes," Bulma answered her mother while gathering food on her plate.

"Then you know all about the wonderful news!" her mother said way too cheerfully. "Your father and I will be taking a vacation, finally," the older woman said as though her and her husband didn't get enough vacation time away from home.

Bulma heard the faint noise of Vegeta's rhythmic eating and stacking falter. She wanted to turn to look at him, but she'd get her chance in a few minutes. "Mother, it's not a vacation. Dad said it was a business meeting and you'll only be gone for a few days."

"Oh." Mrs. Briefs lightly smacked her daughter's shoulder. "Pish-posh, I'm sure I'll be able to talk him into taking more than a few days away from his work." The woman's smile dimming a few watts.

Bulma smiled. "Good luck with that. You know how Dad is. Especially if he's eager to get back home and start on a new project." Having finally filled her plate, she turned and went to the table and sat a few chairs down from Vegeta's head-of-the-table spot. She glanced over at him again to see a smirk formed on his lips. Making her vaguely wonder just what he was thinking. Was he thinking along the same lines as she? Damn, she hoped so. She looked back up at her mother, finding her back turned and stirring the ingredients together. "Did you hear that, Vegeta?" Her eyes scanning back to the alien man. "Mom won't be here to cook your meals…." Vegeta shot her a dirty look.

Mrs. Briefs interjected quickly, keeping her attention on the food and not on the two adults at the table. "I'm cooking Mister Vegeta plenty of food. So that way he'll have meals to eat while I'm gone."

Vegeta shot the blue-haired woman a satisfied smirk. To which she countered by sticking out her tongue.

"And I thought you wouldn't want your sleep or workday interrupted just to make Mister Vegeta his meals."

"Hopefully that means he won't need me to heat them up for him or do his dishes."

Vegeta reached up to scratch his nose with his middle finger. Bulma smirked before taking a bite of her lunch.

"I've set up the bots to take care of all the cleaning." Her mother finally spun around from her cooking. "Will you need me to show you how to work the microwave, Mister Vegeta?"

The blonde ditz was staring at him, with that infuriating grin on her face. Out of the corner of his left eye he could see Bulma with her smirk still in place. "I'll manage," he finally answered. How hard was it to use a fucking microwave? Besides, he didn't mind eating his food cold. Food, was food, was food. He was being fed-for free-he wasn't going to complain, and he certainly didn't want to spend anymore time alone with the ditzy woman if he didn't have to.

Mrs. Briefs turned back to her task, and Vegeta went back to eating. Bulma sat silently, eating her lunch and contemplating what to do afterwards-if she should go back to the lab or take a nap and finish later tonight. She brought the fork up to her lips, the points tapping against her bottom lip. Work or nap? Nap or work? A chair scooted roughly across the floor, breaking her from the thought. She watched Vegeta stalk off, never giving her a second glance as he left the room.

"Oh, I forgot to ask how you were feeling." Her mother looked slightly over her shoulder at her daughter.

"I'm fine, Mom." Bulma laughed lightly. "I actually fell asleep while working. I can't believe I did that."

"You should go take a nap," her mother lightly scolded.

Bulma quickly finished off her meal. "I feel a lot better now, especially after eating." She took her plate to the sink and rinsed it off. "I promise I'll get this blueprint done and call it a day."

"Your father and I worry about you."

Bulma gave her mother a small smile. "I know. He already told me I was to get more sleep and not pass out in the lab again. Things are just a little hectic with Vegeta around. You know how he is, always needing something. But, I guess I can't really blame Vegeta, since he usually goes to Dad." She sighed lightly. "Oh well, I suppose I should go finish that blueprint so I can get a nap."

That's exactly what Bulma did. She finished off her blueprint, satisfied with it for the moment. It would definitely need some reworking once her brain and eyes got a little more sleep, and she would be able to think and see more clearly. She stopped by the kitchen to tell her mother she was taking a nap, and that she'd be down for dinner.

Dinner came and went, her father going over all that needed to be done and looked after while he would be away. Bulma gave him half-hearted nods as he went through his usual list. After dinner, she excused herself to head to bed early, but not before telling her parents she would see them off in the morning. As she climbed the stairs to her hallway, she offered a small prayer that Vegeta wouldn't bug her tonight. If he did, she was quite certain she would either pass out on him or bitch him out-which would most likely end up in him taking a few steps back again.

She shook her head as she got ready for bed. Pulling on her pajamas, which consisted of a pair of cotton pajama pants and a light t-shirt, she couldn't care less at this point if she offended the surly Saiyan. She needed her sleep, damn it! She pouted her lips and gave a short nod of her head as she crawled into bed and set her alarm before drifting off.

**~S~**

The next morning her alarm came alive at 6 A.M. Her arm extended out of the covers, shutting off the annoying buzz, and feeling refreshed after a full nights sleep. She threw the covers off and hopped out of bed, ready to start her day. Taking a quick shower and getting dressed, she bounded down the hallway and staircase with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, darling," her mother was the first to greet her. "My, you're in a good mood," the woman commented with her usual blinding smile.

Bulma kissed her mother's cheek. "I had a good night's rest," she said with a smile almost matching her mother's. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he's getting the suitcases all packed up."

"And Vegeta?" She looked towards the kitchen. Usually that's where he was this early in the morning, but Bulma could hear the robot clean-up crew already at work.

"Mister Vegeta had an early breakfast this morning. He was just finishing up when we came down."

"Oh." She had been hoping to catch Vegeta at breakfast so she could try to evaluate what the next few days were going to be like, but no such luck.

"Honey bunny," her father's voice rang through the silent house. "We need to get going, is Bulma up…." The old man turned the corner to see both women smiling. He cleared his throat and looked towards his daughter. "Good morning, sweetheart."

"Morning, Dad. I didn't think you two would be leaving so early in the morning."

He blushed a little. "Well, your mother wanted to leave earlier."

Bulma shot a look towards her mother. She shook her head as she watched the woman go to stand beside her husband. Her mother was someone she would never understand. "Well, have a safe trip." Bulma walked over to the couple, give each of them a hug. "And be sure to call if anything comes up."

Her mother giggled, and her father gave a nod.

"I suppose we'll be off," her father stated, hooking his arm around his wife's.

"Goodbye, dear."

"Love you!" Bulma called to her parents just before hearing the door click shut. She sighed and headed toward the kitchen to get breakfast and start her day.

She spent the first half of her day working in the lab-revising her blueprint and working on prototypes. Wiping the sweat from her forehead six hours later, she headed up to get some lunch and clean up a bit. She walked into the kitchen, her footsteps faltering a bit as she saw Vegeta sitting at the table. "Good afternoon." She walked over to the sink, her eyes trained on her dirty hands and thoughts running towards to how dirty her entire body felt. She turned on the water and lathered her hands with soap. Her mind too preoccupied with thoughts to notice the silence around her.

"What the hell are you wearing, woman?"

She jumped slightly as he caught her unaware. Her hands twisted around under the running water, scrubbing away all the grime. "It's a jumpsuit I wear so I don't get my clothes dirty," she stated blandly, not letting him get the upper hand so easily. Although, with his body heat seeping through her clothes and onto her skin and his hand creeping up to the zipper of her suit wasn't helping. "Do you like it?" she teased as his hand finally landed on the small piece of metal and pulled down.

He snorted in her ear, and his lips lightly brushed across her left cheek. "It's the most decent thing I've seen you wear since living here."

She laughed. Looking down at her hands, she saw they were as clean as they were going to get and turned off the water. "Says the man who walks around in form fitting shorts all day, every day." One of her hands reached back to tug at the waistband of said shorts.

"I have a reason…." he started.

"So do I, it's called summer!" she retorted quickly. The alien man always had an excuse for everything she called him out on. So if he could use some bullshit excuse, well so could she! "It's starting to get colder out now," she said a little more softly as the zipper of her jumpsuit stopped at her waist and a warm hand rested just under the hem of her shirt. She briefly wondered if Vegeta's home planet was anything like Earth. Did they have different seasons, or was it just constantly warm or cold all the time? Would he answer if she asked? She breathed out heavily through her nose. 'Most likely not,' her mind answered.

His hand glided over her ribs, fingertips brushing the underside of her bra before a much smaller hand caught his wrist. He was about to open his mouth to protest, but she beat him to it.

"I'm hungry." She pushed at his wrist but it didn't budge.

"So am I."

His voice was smooth and caressing to her eardrums. "Hmm." A smirk played on her lips. "Then go fuck yourself." She still continued to push on his wrist, her other hand gripping his forearm, trying to help.

His growl was low and warning. He finally let her push his hand away, and a took a few steps back from her. "Fine, eat," he growled before storming off.

Bulma rolled her eyes. 'Two steps back all because of that,' she mused. She was learning that he was quite fickle. Some things tended to piss him off more on certain days. Perhaps it was the knowledge of her parents being out of the house, no one to catch them. She gave herself a disappointed sigh. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed him away because she really had wanted to fool around and take advantage of the not-getting-caught situation they would be in for the next few days.

She opened the fridge, pulling out something for lunch. As she waited for the food to heat up an idea popped into her head. It seemed as though Vegeta was always coming to her, so perhaps it was time to let him know she wanted to go to him. A smile appeared back on her face. Yes, she would go to him this time and hope that he wasn't too pissed off about her rejection.

Taking her food to the table, she was about to sit down until she noted that she still had her filthy jumpsuit on. She stripped out of it, feeling a bit better but no less cleaner as she sat down to eat, leaving the suit on the floor until she finished.

After finishing her food, she rinsed her plate off and went back to grab the suit off the floor and take it to the laundry room. Unfortunately she didn't make it far. As she entered the living room, she was tackled onto the couch, her eyes growing wide with panic and her heart rate speeding up with adrenaline. Her elbow jabbed into hard, warm flesh and her eyes met tanned skin. "Vegeta," she half-growled, half-gasped. She looked up further to see a smirking face.

"Don't tell me you weren't thinking about the same thing," he whispered darkly.

"Honestly," she started, dropping the dirty suit she still held over the back of the couch. "I was hoping you weren't too pissed 'cause I did want to take advantage of the empty house."

He chuckled, his smirk growing more dangerous as one of her own appeared. "Is that so?"

Her arms wrapped around his torso so she could pull herself up to brush her lips against his. He responded and no more words passed between the two as their clothes landed in a small pile on the floor. Heated flesh pressed against burning flesh. Strong hands slide along her hips and under her back, commanding her to sit. Her legs pressed against his, knees almost jabbing into his hip bones. Smaller hands wrapped around his thick neck and swept up into his hair.

"Vegeta," she murmured, catching his eyes. His touch was gentle, and it would've unnerved her if she wasn't so caught up in the way it was making her feel. Pure and utter bliss clouded her mind, as she shifted her hips and their lower regions brushed against each other.

His hands ran down her back to rest on her hips. "You want it," his voice was barely above a whisper. His fingers pressed into her soft flesh briefly.

She bit her bottom lip. Was this a trap? Was he really still so pissed that he was going to do something horrible and humiliating to her? She took in his serious expression, his fingertips pressing into her hips. "I want it," she finally responded, keeping the nervousness and curiosity hidden behind a mask of indifference. She pressed forward, her breasts rubbing against his chest and her lips hovering only inches from his own. Their eyes still locked in some sort of silent battle. Her hips lifted under his hold. She grinned. "Now." She lowered her hips, impaling herself on him.

He smirked as she gasped. "Impatient?" His fingers stayed anchored on her hips that were now rocking against his own.

Her hands left his hair to rest at his shoulders, giving her a little bit of leverage to help lift her body more. "And you're usually not?" she shot back, the grin still on her face. Her teeth bit down on her lower lip again as he maneuvered below her. A hand left her hip so he could lean back on it, giving her a better angle to work with. Her eyes rolled slightly back when she was able to take more of him in. "Ah." Her eyes focused back on his smirking face.

Nails dug into his shoulders as his other hand left her hip to move up her back. Her hips snapped down, rubbing harder with each stroke. He watched her face set into concentration as she measured her strokes. The way her eyes dilated and lips twitched as she found the right combination.

Her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp. Her vision blurred, going cross-eyed for a few seconds. Her fingers moved from his shoulders to press sharply into the back of his corded neck before her body lowered so she could kiss him. Her body shivered and pulsed as the endorphins released into her bloodstream. His lips quickly dominated over hers as her body became drugged with pleasure. "Mmm," the noise vibrated from her throat as the high thrummed down to her toes.

"More."

The deep rumble caught her sluggish senses. "Work," she said weakly before being pushed back against the cushions. "I need to…." A rough kiss cut off her words. A hand smoothed along the underside of her right thigh, pushing the leg higher so his hips could push deeper.

He finally pulled away from her lips, his own traveling over her chin and to her throat. His tongue flicking out to taste the saltiness of her sweaty skin. As his tongue continued it's assault on her neck, he could hear something faintly calling out in his mind. What was this woman doing to him? He should be out training! He shouldn't be thinking about when he would get to fuck her again. He had a goal to obtain. He was supposed to be trying to gain his legendary status!

His name rolled off her tongue. Both his hands cupped under her ass, lifting the cheeks off the cushions. She was so soft, her surroundings were always soft, her voice calling out his name so seductively with a bit of hoarseness. It was something he hadn't gotten to experience much while being controlled by Frieza. Things were always hard and cold. When women did approach him it was usually because of his high-ranking amongst the soldiers, to which he would usually just turn his nose up and leave them high and dry.

Fingers pulled at his hair as his tongue still swept along her neck and down to her breasts. Her panting moans filled his ears as he drove harder into the soft, warm, wet flesh. He grunted, mouth pressing firmly into the swell of her left breast as he released.

Bulma panted as she tried to calm her heart and get the necessary air to form words. Of course, Vegeta being pressed so intimately in and on her wasn't helping. New beads of sweat started forming as his heat settled over them. "Vegeta," she finally managed to croak out.

"Hmm."

His nose nestled against her breast, and she almost wanted to laugh at the action and the contentment in his reply. She wasn't going to upset him now, though. She removed her fingers from his hair so they could run down his spine.

His body instantly stiffened as the soft touch neared his stump, but the digits stopped just out of reach. "What is it, woman?" He finally lifted his head to look at her.

She gave him a contented smile. "I need to get back to work."

He snorted, pushing himself away from her fully. A small hiss escaped from his partner's parted lips as he slid out of her. "And I need to get back to training." He stood from the couch, grabbed his shorts, and pulled them on.

"Vegeta," Bulma called before he could leave, stretching her legs out along the couch. She didn't want him to think that she was trying to push him away. "I'll see ya later." She gave him wink as she stretched her arms.

He snorted, but gave her a lewd look. "Depends on how _hungry_ I am."


	13. Distractions

Prompt: **Peaceful. **

**A/N: **I just wanna take the time out to thank all the people who have faved/watched/commented on this since the last time I updated ^^ And sorry for the short chapter, I might go back later and add more to it, but right now I'm just trying to concentrate on getting this done...

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

Her parents had returned a few days later-just as her father had stated. Her mother apparently not having as much influence over the good doctor as she thought she had. Bulma gave out a soft sigh as she thought about how much more peaceful things had become. It had definitely been an odd turn of events when her parents had left, and Vegeta seemed to open up on miniscule level that perhaps he hadn't even noticed. Since he had still retained his general stand-offish and arrogant attitude, but somehow he was gentler toward her. A feat she had only been familiar with her dreams of the Saiyan Prince.

Another thought that truly scared her about her time alone with Vegeta was that they had almost gotten into a routine. They ate breakfast together and even lunch. The first night alone, he had even stopped training and ate dinner with her! Of course, she had ordered take-out, so maybe the smell of food or the unknown ki signature of the delivery person had thrown him off guard somehow. She shook her head. He was used to all those things by now. Had it just been a fluke that he joined her? Or had he done it unconsciously?

"Hmm." She stuck the end of her pen in her mouth, biting down softly. Perhaps the bigger question of the two days alone should've been: Why had she invited him to spend the night with her? Looking back on it, she definitely should've known it was a bad idea, yet she had been surprised by his….non-yelling. Sure he had gotten a little suspicious about it at first, most likely thinking it was some sort trap, but in the end he had just given her a straightforward 'no'. No yelling, no cussing, no threatening her 'pathetic life'.

Now here they were, a week later, and Vegeta was beginning to pull back again. Had he noticed his slippage? Was he slowly losing interest in her? Well, she supposed she wasn't too shocked about his behavior. After her parents returned, their affair returned to nightly visits. With each passing day he lingered less and less. Even his stamina seemed to be lessening. Whereas that first week he had stayed the whole night through, and it had even been that way when her parents left. 'When they returned.' Her mind mulled over the last week. The first night he hadn't even come to her. The second night he had shown up around 11p.m. and only stayed a few hours. The third and fourth night he had shown up around midnight and stayed until early morning. The fifth night he was a no-show again.

The last two nights had been what was really throwing her for a loop. He had seemed….distracted, and it made her feel unwanted and almost dirty. Their eyes had barely crossed paths, their lips never even brushed together. It certainly wasn't from a lack of trying on her part, either! No, he had pulled away as soon as she would try to wrap herself around him. His head would automatically turn away from hers the few times she had been able to get a hold of him. So it made her wonder what had changed. Had she done something to offend him? Had he noticed his turn of behavior toward her? Was she getting too predictable and annoying? She smiled at the last thought. If it were for that reason that he was pulling away, he would've never joined her in the first place!

"Bulma."

She took the pen from her mouth and swiveled in her chair. "Yeah, Dad." Upon seeing his serious expression, her thoughtful smile faded. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" She laid her pen on the desk before sitting up a bit straighter in her chair.

His moustache twitched slightly. "Well, that's what I was coming to ask you."

The woman gave her father a curious look. Had she messed up on something? Was her work not up to par? She knew she might've been getting a little sloppy, what with the lack of sleep and strenuous activities she had been enjoying recently, but she'd always made sure to double and triple check her work-just as she normally would.

He coughed and his moustache twitched again.

She could feel heat flooding to her cheeks at her father's obvious sign of discomfort. Had he figured out that she was sleeping with Vegeta? No, they had been so careful to cover up their tracks, hadn't they? She knew she had! Perhaps with all the slipping Vegeta was doing, he had let a sliver of a hint that they were together out into the open.

"Did anything happen between you and Vegeta while your mother and I were gone?" He knew it probably sounded like a far-fetched question, but even with his secluded and shut-in nature Dr. Briefs had still picked up on a few odd and quiet behavior coming from the two hot-heads. Firstly, he had noticed the lack of screaming and stomping coming his daughter. Usually she had some bone to pick with Vegeta, but lately she had seemed more content and thoughtful while working on her projects instead of angry and rushed.

Secondly, Vegeta had come-quite calmly-to his lab. No stomping around, no knocking his equipment aside to grab his attention. Instead, the Saiyan had politely cleared his throat to catch his attention, then proceeded to tell him it was okay if he continued his work because he only a had a request to ask.

"Um, no, nothing out of the ordinary," Bulma finally answered. "Why? Did he do or say something to make you think we got into a huge fight?" she asked curiously, wondering what was prompting her father to come to her about this. Especially after a week's worth of time had already passed them by.

"Nothing of the sort. In fact it seems quite the opposite has happened while we were gone." He missed his daughter's sharp inhale of breath as he continued, "He just came to me and requested that I check the ships systems and make sure it's ready to be taken into space again." Once again missing a look of sadness cross over his daughter's face as he continued on, "He was very polite when he came to ask, and I was just curious if perhaps you two had worked out your differences after all this time."

Bulma gave a slight shrug, hoping her features were set on neutral. "We pretty much just stayed to our routines. I did manage to eat lunch with him that first day, but we basically ignored each other the rest of the time," she half-lied.

Her father seemed appeased by the answer as he gave her a smile. "That's good to hear." He stopped to pet the cat perched on his shoulder. "Would you like to help run maintenance on the ship with me?"

Bulma smirked. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll let him suffer through the wait." Her father chuckled as she continued, "Besides, if he's going to go back out into space, he'll need new armor. Perhaps I'll be nice and build at least a prototype he can test out."

"Do you think you can get the old armor and figure it out within a week?"

"I'm sure if I tell Vegeta what I'm doing, he'll hand the thing right over." Or if worse came to worst, she could always sneak into his room while he was training and take the damn thing!

Her father gave her a short nod. "The boy does seem to like being catered to rather than having to ask for things to be done."

"He's just a spoiled brat."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at his daughter's statement but knew better than to open his mouth about the pot calling the kettle black. "Right, then I'll let you get back to work."

After her father left, Bulma picked her pen back up to chew on the end of it. So, Vegeta was ready to go back out into space, was he? Was that why he was acting so weird? Did he want to leave because of her? She smirked a little at that thought. Had she become too much of a distraction for him?

She shook her head, taking the pen from her mouth again as she looked down at the blueprint on her desk. It wouldn't take her much longer to finish the plans, then she could see about getting Vegeta's armor and getting started on that.

**~S~**

It was a few days later, and Bulma had only seen glimpses of Vegeta. It wasn't really anything new, though, to not see him throughout the day. At night was a different story. She had gotten so used to him popping up to continue their affair, and she wouldn't deny that she was a little disappointed that he was apparently going to ignore her until he left for space. Although, if the last two nights they had spent together indicated anything, maybe it was for the best.

"Whatever." Bulma quickly closed her eyes, before refocusing on the project at hand: making Vegeta a new and better set of armor. Something that she hoped he wouldn't read too much into, since she'd had to resort to sneaking into his room to get the original set. "It's his own damn fault for not wanting to talk to me." Luckily it had only taken a few hours to understand the workings of the material before she took a small sample so she could examine the material to find out what it was made of.

Now, a day later, she had already constructed something twice as durable as the older model. She was quite proud of herself, and couldn't wait to see Vegeta's expression when she presented it to him. Of course, she was a little surprised that he hadn't demanded new armor yet, not even from her father. Had he just planned on using the old set? She bit her tongue lightly, regrouping herself yet again as she pieced together the third set of armor because he was surely going to need more than one set out there.

She had asked her father how long Vegeta planned to be gone, but the doctor had just answered with a shrug. An indication that said Vegeta was going to stay out there as long as he could. Away from Earth, away from her, away from any and all possible distractions. "He's stupid if he thinks he's getting away that easily," she mumbled to herself.

By the end of the evening, five pairs of armor were laid in a straight row on one of the lab tables as she inspected each one, making sure she hadn't messed up on any of them. Her fingertips smoothed over the soft, rubbery material that made up such indestructible armor. Armor that had protected so many creatures out in the vast reaches of space.

"They look amazing, and in such a short amount of time."

Bulma smiled. "Well, of course, did you expect anything less from your genius daughter?"

Dr. Briefs chuckled. "Would you like me to put them in the ship for you?"

She picked up the first suit and packed it away into a capsule trunk. "I was going to hand him the capsule myself. I want to see the look on his face when he sees what I made."

"Suit yourself. I should have the ship ready by tomorrow, unless you need more time."

She gave a short shake of her head. "That should be fine. I'll give them to him tonight. Even if I have to interrupt his training." She smirked as she finished packing the trunk and capsulated it. She fisted the capsule before tucking it safely away in a case. "Alright, I'm ready for dinner!" Then she'd wait for her parents to go to bed and deal with Vegeta.


	14. One More Time

**Prompt: **Naughty.

**WARNING: This does contain MAJOR Adult Content. **And please let me know if anything sounds weird. It's so hard trying to "show" emotion without actually showing emotion with these characters XD

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

After her parents retired for the evening, Bulma headed up to her room. Her hand slipped into the pocket of her pants and pulled out the case containing the special capsule for Vegeta. She gave a heavy sigh as she placed the item on her bedside table before moving to the bathroom. She started the shower before stripping out the grimy and sweat smelling clothes she had been working in all day. 'Step one: Smell nice.' Stepping under the hot water, she let the heat relax her stressed muscles and running mind.

She knew that part of their deal was that she wasn't allowed to use her body against him, but it wasn't like that. If he thought he could just run off into space and leave things the way they had ended a week and a half ago then he had another thing coming! She wouldn't be able to survive him being gone for who knew how long if things remained as they were. It was still another year and a half until those androids would supposedly arrive! What if he stayed out there all that time? Leaving her feeling dirty and suddenly unwanted by the alien man. Her teeth clenched together as a growl formed in her throat at these thoughts. That bastard was going to admit that she had gotten to him! Or at least acknowledge that she had become a bit of a distraction.

She finished cleaning, dried, then wrapped the towel around herself. Heading toward the dresser, she opened the top drawer to reveal sets of bras and panties. "Hmm. Something tasteful but eye-catching," she reminded herself. Shifting through all the different sets, her eyes caught sight of red. When had she bought that? Picking up a satin camisole top, she rubbed the fabric between her fingers as she pondered. She couldn't remember ever wearing this. So, if the set-which included a pair of boy shorts-hadn't been worn before, why was it sitting so close to the top? 'Mother.' Shaking her head at the thought, she kept the silky fabric clutched in her hand as she moved back toward the bathroom.

'Step two: look nice.' She sat down at the vanity desk in the far corner of her bathroom. Flipping the lights on and plugging the hairdryer and curler in, she looked herself in the mirror. "Steer clear of makeup and perfumes," she reminded herself once again. So, picking up a hairbrush and the dryer, she began to dry the wet mid-length hair. After drying, she picked up the curling iron and made loose curls at the bottom of the blue strands. "I suppose that's good enough," she sighed. "It's not like these curls are gonna last long if my plans go through."

She stood from her seat, letting the towel slip from her body. She threw on the lingerie, not caring if it tousled the curls. Afterwards, she headed back out into the bedroom and towards the walk-in closet. Choosing a thick sweatshirt, she pulled it on before heading back to the chest of drawers. Opening the second drawer this time, she pulled out a pair of flannel pajama pants to slip on. Before heading out she picked up the capsule case and slid it into the pants' pocket.

She headed downstairs and to the back door that would lead her outside. As she slipped on her shoes and opened the door to go outside, the hatch of the ship opened. Her brows furrowed just a bit as she stepped outside and expected Vegeta to come stalking down the ramp at any minute, but he didn't. That only caused her brows to furrow deeper as she made her towards the ship.

She looked up the ramp as one foot then the other started the ascent, and there was still no visible sign of Vegeta nor was there noise coming from inside. When her feet stepped onto the tiled floor of the GR, the hatch closed behind her-making her jump. A hand covered her chest as she looked around. Spotting the small opening that would take her down below, she took her chances.

Once downstairs she could hear the faint running of water coming from the bathroom. She smirked as she strode across the kitchen/living area and into the small bedroom. Stripping off her camouflage, she threw the pants and sweatshirt off to the side before sitting on the thin floor mattress. Her ankles crossed as she leaned back on her arms.

A few minutes later Vegeta emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. His nostrils flared at the intake of her scent. So strong and sweet. Warm and comforting. He blew the breath back out in a snort as he leaned against the rounded frame that led to the bedroom area. His eyes took in the sight of her. Her long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. A pair of tiny, silky looking red shorts covered her bottom half. A sliver of creamy skin was showing between the top of the shorts and the bottom of the raised top. His eyes raked over her perky breasts before sweeping up the slightly tilted neck before meeting her eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked darkly as his arms crossed against his chest and he pushed away from the frame.

She sat up straight and uncrossed her legs, but still kept them extended. A playful smirk turned her lips up even more. "What does it look like?"

He snorted again, trying to get the strong scent of her from invading his senses and sending his blood rushing down. Was she wearing some kind of perfume to lure him in? He wasn't going to put it past her! "You know," he stated matter-of-factly. "If this is some sad attempt…."

Arms reached out to hook her fingers around the edge of his towel. "Of course I know." She wanted to spit, but kept her tone seductive. "And I'm not here to ask you to stay. After all, that was part of the deal, right?"

His feet moved a few steps closer as the towel finally dropped to the floor. A hand cupped her chin and tilted her head up. "Then why?"

"You're seriously going to do this?" she asked as her hands landed on his hips. At his continued silence, she sighed. "There is no motive, Vegeta. I just." Fingertips pressed against hard muscle. "I just want to end things properly." A confused look flashed across his face before quickly disappearing. "The last two nights we were together," she started before stopping again. Her eyes narrowed as she jerked away from his touch. "You broke the rules," she finally let a little bit of anger seep into her words. "Treating me like some damn whore! You wouldn't look at me. You wouldn't kiss me. Even your performance was half-assed!"

The hand that had been cupping her chin, moved to rest on top of her head. His fingers combed through the soft hair. "I never made any such promise to you." Her mouth opened to retort, but her head was jerked back by the fingers that were now twisted through the blue strands. "If I recall correctly, you said you weren't going to be a whore that I could toss around or use for any sick fantasies. To which I replied 'We'll see'."

She gave her harshest glare as her fingers uncurled from their hold on his hips. One set of fingers swept over his hip and over the top of his butt. "I don't give a damn if you promised or not. It's called respect, Vegeta. You do know what that is, right?"

A gentle, tickling touch brushed against the skin near his tail spot. His eyes held hers as a devilish grin spread over his lips. The grip on her hair loosened, letting her head straighten. His hips pushed forward as the feather light touch finally reached the stub. Both feet shuffled forward as a finger twirled around the curled ends of her hair. "You said some time ago that you'd like to taste me."

Her lips brushed against the tip of his erection before she pulled back and rolled her eyes up to look at him. "And _I_ recall saying that I may not offer again."

"Therein lies the problem." His fingers ran back up to cup the back of her head. "You think that just because you have a cute face people will bend to your will, but I won't. Besides, I already told you that I don't give a damn about waiting for your offer."

A smile lit up her features. "You think I'm cute?" the statement came out playful yet curious. The hand at the back of her head pushed her forward, but her eyes stayed trained on his. Her tongue snaked out to lick and swirl around the head of his erection. "I won't tell anyone."

He snorted. "And I'm to believe that when you can't even keep your mouth shut around me?"

She had to refrain her fingers from putting more pressure on the sensitive area they were still languidly petting. With the position she was in, she really couldn't afford to piss him off or make him snap. "Believe me or not," she breathed out. "Have I let slip that we've been fucking?" Her tongue once again slipped out to taste him before her mouth covered him.

A low growl crept up his throat as his fingers tightened their grip on her hair. His hips shifted forward again at the inviting heat she provided. Dark eyes drifted shut as pleasure coursed through his body and the scent of her arousal hit his nostrils again. His free hand moved back to catch her teasing fingers.

Bulma was surprised when he ceased her movements-both hand and head. She blinked heavily when he pulled away from her, but she barely had time to think about it before she was tossed fully on the mattress. Landing on her back, the wind was knocked from her lungs since the mattress barely provided any padding between it and the hard flooring, as her arms were raised beside her head. Luckily her head had landed on a pillow and not on the mattress. Her eyes started to narrow in anger but stopped when a warm hand ran up her leg. She looked down when her knees spread apart and a hand ran down her thigh.

"I'll not play gentle tonight." A finger caressed her cloth-covered wetness before both hands cupped her ass. Lifting her bottom up, the hands easily tugged the silky material from around her hips and whipped it off her legs.

She let out a small gasp as his fingers easily maneuvered back between her thighs. "And wha…." Another gasp crawled out as a digit sank into her wet heat. Her hips involuntarily pushed up as another finger brushed teasingly across her clit. Her fingers wrapped around the edges of the pillow and her teeth sucked in her bottom lip.

A second digit entered her as he leaned down. His free hand moved from her hip to slide under her top. The material being pushed up tantalizingly slow as his hand inched toward her breasts. "And you'll not leave unscathed."

As if to prove his point his head lowered as his hand finally uncovered her breasts. His tongue laved harshly over a taut nipple before biting down and drawing a scream from her. The scream turned into a pant as his tongue once again washed over the area before adding suction. "Vege…." Her hips snapped up as his fingers slipped out of her. Her muddled mind tried to piece together how this man had gotten her so worked up in a matter of minutes. It was supposed to have been her turn to take the reins, or so she had planned.

His mouth switched sides, paying the same amount of torture to the other breast as her body writhed beneath his. All his senses seemed to be running on high tonight due to whatever scent she had bathed in. Tongue and teeth finally moved from her breasts and up to her neck-pushing the top up until her hands grabbed hold of the soft material and threw it away before diving into his hair. The hand that been playing down below skimmed over her stomach and up to a breast as his lower half pushed closer to hers.

His nose pressed against the underside of her jaw as his tongue ran along the skin. Her breathing still heavy and erratic as his hand roughly pawed her breast. His hips nudged forward, seeking her heat, as his other hand dropped back down to hold her hip. A screaming moan ripped from her throat as his hips snapped forward to push inside her.

Her hands trailed down from his hair, to his back, and further down to his butt. He'd always been a rough lover, but he'd never been like this. Usually he'd draw out his teasing touches until she was begging for release, instead of going straight for the kill. Of course she wasn't usually this vocal. She was always consciously aware of her parents sharing the house with her, even if they did live across the expansive compound. There was always that fear of them hearing something, since her voice wasn't exactly light and soft. Or maybe….Her eyes rolled as her hips unconsciously lifted to meet his. "There," she called out as her hands pressed more firmly against his ass.

His hips ground against hers as both hands slipped around to cup her bottom and gave her a small boost. Their eyes quickly locked before their lips finally connected. A low moan crawled up her throat as his fingers pressed into the soft flesh of ass to hold her against him, and she instantly responded to the pair of demanding lips before tongues twined together. Her nails raked up his back and into his hair again as their kiss intensified. A shudder ran up her spine as fingers slid from her ass to the back of her thighs. She arched her back and hips before he was pressing her down with his body.

Lips pulled apart as his tongue untangled from hers. He gazed down at hazy blue eyes before leaning back in to brush his lips against her chin and jaw. His breathing was heavier than normal, sending puffs of hot air to blow across her ear. "Let it go," he breathed out before his tongue ran along the shell of her ear.

Her hands moved down to press her nails into his shoulders. Her body shuddered and toes curled as his name fell from her lips and her mind became clouded with bliss. So wrapped up in the intense orgasm she was experiencing, she barely heard the growling groan that slipped from his throat. The feel of his twitching member sent another wave of endorphins through her system before she could take a steadying breath. The crushing weight of his body descended upon hers for a brief second before he pushed and rolled onto his back beside her.

Her feet and toes pointed down as they stretched along with her legs. Her hands raised above her head and a small noise escaped her throat. The man beside her lay silently as a prone arm rested against his stomach. She gave him a quick glance before her nose wrinkled as she felt gravity start taking it's course. She pushed herself from the thinly cushioned mattress and padded to the bathroom without giving him a second glance.

Vegeta let out a sigh as his eyes blinked and stayed closed for a brief moment. What the hell was that woman thinking? Coming here and smelling like that. He once again blew the scent from his nostrils. He wasn't going to hold himself accountable for any damage he did to her because of his hormones being riled up. Another thought that ran across the forefront of his mind was why was she here? So maybe he had been expecting a visit from her for quite some time, but he hadn't planned on it being like this. He had figured there was going to be plenty of yelling and cussing, throwing insults, and one of them storming away. Instead….His thoughts pulled away as the intoxicating woman stepped back into the room and lay down on the mattress.

Bulma lowered herself and lay on her stomach. Her elbows rested against the mattress as a fisted hand supported her head. "I'm ready for round two." Her eyes flicked downwards before drawing back to his face. "Would you like some help?" A hand placed itself over his-which still rested on his stomach.

"Why are you doing this?" The question repeated in his mind and he had to know. If the woman thought this was a game, or if it was some ploy of hers to get him into some sort relationship it wasn't going to work. He had seen the way she had acted around that scar-faced human. The way she always lured him in with false innocence only to rope him along until she got what she wanted. Then she'd claim to catch him cheating or talking to another girl and get mad at him. Yet, in the end, the fool always came crawling back for more.

She gave him a confused look. "I already told you there is no ulterior motive for me being here." She took a heavy breath as she rolled onto her side to fully face him. "I know you need to leave so you can concentrate on obtaining your goal, I get it."

His eyes narrowed at the way she said 'concentrate', but he let it slide. "You humans like to develop attachments to things," he started, stopping her from trying to explain what he already knew. He watched as her brows creased and her playful smile dropped into a slight frown. "I saw how you and…"

"Yamcha," she interjected, her hand pulling away from his as she propped herself into a sitting position. "What does my relationship with Yamcha have to do with this?"

Vegeta pushed himself up as well. "Exactly that: relationship," he spat. "I won't have…"

Bulma sat up on her knees, a finger pointing into his chest. "The only _relationship_ I have with you is us fucking, okay? I told you that from that beginning, and things haven't changed." She removed her finger and sat back on her haunches. "My relationship with Yamcha was nothing like this." The furrowing of his brows brought a smile back to her face. "We were dating on and off for nearly a decade, and things between us were always sort of strained."

He let out an exhausted sigh as his eyebrows relaxed. "I won't have you going around bitching about me like you did with that idiot."

"And who would I bitch to?" she asked with a small smile. "Maybe if you're lucky I'll explode from not bitching by the time you get back," she teased as she moved closer to him. "Of course." A hand landed on his shoulder as she went to straddle his lap. "If I haven't, our deal still stands, right?"

His lip twitched as a hand moved back to press their lower halves together as her hips rocked over his. "So long as the rules don't change," he agreed in a husky tone.

**~S~**

After a few more rounds of satiating their bodies and getting cleaned up, Bulma started redressing as Vegeta lay back on the mattress. His hands rested behind his head as he watched her pull on the clothes. When she picked up the pants, she stopped and reached into the pocket. The smile on her face only grew before she shot him a quick glance and tossed the case at him.

"I can't believe I almost forgot about that," she muttered as she pulled on the pajama pants.

Vegeta caught the case on instinct before sitting up. He eyed the object curiously before looking back over at Bulma. "What's this?"

Her smile turned into a smirk as she re-approached the mattress. "I figured you might need some new armor. Your old set was pretty beat up, wasn't it? Dad and I were both quite surprised that you haven't demanded something new yet."

He tuned out her chatter as he opened the case to find the capsule labeled as 'Vegeta's'. "How long ago did you make them?" he questioned while snapping the case closed.

"When dad told me you were leaving three days ago." Her pride swelled as he raised an eyebrow. A hand rested on his shoulder, making his eyes turn up to hers. "Oh, and I had to sneak into your room to get the old set so I could study it."

"Conniving bitch."

"Arrogant bastard," she retorted without even thinking. The hand on his shoulder removed itself as she stood back up. She made it to the doorway before having to stop and turn around again. "Just go easy on those suits, okay?" A hand landed softly on the doorframe as she turned toward him. "I only made five, and they're all just prototypes, so I'm not sure how well they'll hold up." She started to turn and leave again before stopping herself once more. "Oh." She headed back over to the mattress. "I just wanted to say: be careful out there." A hand combed lightly over his spiked hair before she bent down to kiss his cheek. "I know it's a lot to ask…"

His right hand raised to grab the back of her neck, holding her in place, as he gave her a deep kiss and effectively shut her up. He pulled back when her arms started to wrap around his neck and her body began to lower. "Still don't know when to just shut up and leave, do you?" A smirk ghosted over his lips before disappearing.

"If I did, I wouldn't be here." She straightened herself before giving him one final look before turning to leave.

A heavy breath blew past his lips when she was finally gone. His eyes looked down at the case still in his hands as he re-opened it. Fresh suits to wear, ones that hadn't been sent to hell and back. He didn't stop the curious itch of his hand as he pulled the capsule out and clicked the top before tossing it to the ground. A trunk appeared through the waning smoke and he stood from the bed.

When he opened the trunk he was surprised to find that the armor inside had been slightly modified from the original. He picked a chest piece up by the golden strap and was once again surprised to find the material even lighter than Frieza's. He should've went to her years ago and demanded new armor, but his mind had been so preoccupied with training and keeping her away from him that he hadn't even thought about it.

He shrugged the thought away as he inspected each piece to make sure they were properly made. Fitting each set over his body, he was astonished at how snug and comfortable they fit against skin. A smirk tugged the corner of his lip up as he felt the blood rush through his body at the prospect of fighting again, only to have it all pump downward as he looked down into the trunk. Bending down to retrieve the photo, his immediate thought was to destroy it. A rush of warmth traveled from his chest and to his arm that held the item, but as he examined the contents, thought better of it.

He moved the picture closer, his eyes catching the winking face before moving lower. He recalled the red material was what she had been wearing earlier. Except that wasn't what caught his attention. No, the material was just there to tease him as it showed off the tops of her rounded breasts, but hid the pert nipples from his view.

Discarding the armor with the sweep of an expert hand, he walked over to the closet and opened it to find his old set of armor. Giving one last quick look at provocative photo before it setting it down, he turned his back on it to retrieve the new armor and store it away until he needed it.


	15. Equilibrium

**Prompt: **Nightmare

**A/N: **Wow, I've been working this chapter since...December, I think! I've had so much other stuff to do, stupid life getting in the way, and generally just trying to get a good plot going for this filler chapter. I really want to thank all the people that have faved/watched this story during that time, and a specially BIG thank you to the people that comment ^^ It really makes me feel good to know I'm doing something .

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.**

Bulma woke to the sound of her alarm going off. She quickly reached over and turned the blaring sound off before looking at the time. Groaning slightly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. The reason why her alarm had been set so early was because she hadn't wanted to miss Vegeta's departure, and since she hadn't been woken before her alarm she was hoping that was a positive sign.

Pushing herself from the bed, she walked over to the window and looked down to find the ship still in the yard. Her mother was standing down on the grass at the end of the ramp, her shoulders shaking lightly. Bulma rolled her eyes at the sight, knowing her mother was probably having a good cry over Vegeta leaving. She sighed before yanking herself away from the window and to her closet, quickly tossing on some comfy and warm clothes before heading downstairs.

She slipped on her shoes and headed outside. Upon opening the door, she stopped to take in the scene. Her mother was there, handkerchief in hand, sobbing her eyes. Bulma's eyes glanced up the ramp where her father was talking to Vegeta. The black cat on her father's shoulder was sticking its paw out towards Vegeta before quickly pulling it back as if the alien would attack it. She smirked when Vegeta's gaze shifted in her direction for a quick glance before turning back to her father.

She took in Vegeta's form. He was leaning against the entranceway, arms crossed over his chest plate as his legs were crossed at the ankles. His features set in the normal position of boredom and generally non-caring of anything her father was telling him. What had her smiling brightly was the fact that he was wearing her newly designed battle suit. The under suit was a bit lighter and richer than the one he'd had while working for Frieza, but she liked the royal shade of blue on him. His white gloves covered his hands, where they folded against her newly modeled chest plate. She had to admit that her hormones were already reacting to the sight of him, but she pushed them back down as she approached her mother.

"Oh, Bulma, honey, can you believe that Mister Vegeta is leaving us?" she sobbed, and blotted her eyes with the handkerchief. "It's just not fair."

"Mom, he'll be coming back," she said soothingly, although the smile was still on her face. "Besides, I'm sure Vegeta couldn't stay away from your cooking for too long." She shot a glance at the alien man. 'No matter how much you creep him out,' she laughed to herself.

"It's a shame, too, since the two of you were finally getting along," Mrs. Briefs snuffled again.

Bulma felt her body stiffen for a second before brushing her mother's comment off. "Oh, Mom, just because we weren't yelling at each other all the time doesn't mean we were getting along." Her mother only continued to cry into the handkerchief, so Bulma rolled her eyes in the direction of the two men. Not much had changed since she exited the house. Her father was still chatting away while Vegeta had shifted positions and now had his right foot up against the entryway as his left was angled out to support his weight.

After a few more seconds of her mother's sniffling, Bulma finally decided to head up the ramp. She greeted her father as she reached the top, catching the older man off guard—he'd apparently not noticed her coming out of the house. As her father greeted her, she shot a coy smile towards Vegeta.

"I was telling Vegeta about all the new devices I could easily have installed if he'd just wait a few more hours to leave," Dr. Briefs told his daughter before turning his attention back towards the Saiyan. "Are you sure you don't want to wait around?"

Vegeta scoffed, his arms uncrossing and his foot landing back on the floor so he could stand properly. "I already told you I didn't want any of your crazy Earth devices installed. What makes you think I'd change my mind in just a matter of minutes?"

The doctor shrugged then looked at Bulma. "Is there anything you need to tell him, dear?"

"Yes." The woman pointed at the chest plate he was wearing. "How's that working out? Does it feel okay? Is it too tight, too loose?" She stopped her rapid-fire questioning when Vegeta smirked.

"I still need to put it through a test run," he told her honestly before tugging at the collar of the chest plate.

Bulma huffed. "And what's that supposed to mean? Can you not just say that I did an amazing job and that it fits perfectly?" she argued, her voice raising a notch as her hands landed on her hips.

Vegeta snorted, leaning back against the entryway again. "I told you I've yet to test it. I can't give a proper answer until then." A low growl emitted from his throat as he watched her throw her hands in the air as her face came a bit closer—their noses almost touching.

"Fine, you can tell me how it all works out later, after you've completely annihilated all the prototypes! I just want to know how it _fits_!" she emphasized the last word, a bit of spit flying from her mouth.

A gloved hand rose to wipe the spittle from his skin. "It _fits_ fine!" he spit back.

"Oh, honey, would you look at that," Mrs. Briefs started, her face now a bit more cheerful even though she was still blotting tears away with the handkerchief. "They're having a lover's quarrel because they're going to miss each other."

Dr. Briefs only chuckled as both Bulma and Vegeta crossed their arms and turned their heads in the opposite direction. The action only made the doctor laugh louder, and his wife finally stopped crying.

Vegeta was the first to recover. His arms uncrossed as his hands fisted next to his side. "If there's nothing else of importance I need to know, I think I'm quite ready to leave this planet."

Dr. Briefs regained his composure, sticking the cigarette that was being held between his fingers back between his lips only long enough to inhale quickly. "There is just one last thing." A bit of smoke exhaled from the doctor's mouth. "If anything goes wrong: I've programmed Bulma's and my own lab's personal numbers into the computer's com-link."

Bulma shot a haughty and disbelieving look at her father. The old man wasn't even aware of the look he was being giving, and a corner of Vegeta's lip turned up.

"And be sure to keep an eye on the fuel gage," the older Briefs warned the Saiyan for good measure, earning him a scoff. Dr. Briefs turned to finally look at his daughter again. "Anything else, dear?"

Bulma's features had turned serious by the time her father finally turned toward her, and she only gave a shake of her head. Her lips pressed thinly together before she turned to look at Vegeta. "Just," she started slowly, "you better come back and beat those androids!" The first response she received was a scowl before he finally opened his mouth.

"Tell your friends to not slack off, either."

She wanted to smile at that moment. She wanted to throw her body over his, to kiss him deeply. However, Bulma only gave a sharp nod. "Would you like me to report to you with their progress?" A slight smirk turned the corner of her lips up.

Vegeta only rolled his eyes at her statement. After a few seconds of silence, Dr. Briefs cleared his throat and reached over to give a few good pats on Vegeta's shoulder.

"Well, it seems that everything is in order. As long as you're sure you don't want me to install a better stereo system or a faster coffee maker," the doctor rambled on.

"No!" the Saiyan bellowed, scaring the cat that was perched on the older man's shoulder. "I won't even be using those devices, why would I want them upgraded?"

Dr. Briefs shrugged, as if to say 'your loss', then turned to walk down the ramp to stand next to his wife.

Bulma quickly sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, teetering a bit on the heels of her feet. "Have a safe journey, and try not to kill yourself 'cause we'll be needing your help to fight off those androids when they show up." A small smile turned her lips up as Vegeta only turned his nose in the air. Not wanting to waste anymore of the Saiyan's precious time, she turned on her heels and headed down the ramp to join her parents.

Without a second glance, Vegeta turned to walk inside the ship. He was more than ready to depart and get started on his training—on a different planet, with different elements to battle through, with no interruptions.

**~S~**

With Vegeta gone, life went back to normal at Capsule Corp, or what would've been considered normal if the family hadn't gotten used to having their alien houseguest around. Dr. Briefs didn't even seem to notice the change of pace as he continued to spend most of his days locked away in the lab inventing—now that he wasn't hindered by having to fix things or having to constantly upgrade systems. The doctor now had time to perfect certain training equipment for more conventional human uses.

It took almost an entire week for Mrs. Briefs to realize that she didn't have to cook for Vegeta. Therefore the refrigerator was stocked with plenty of leftovers every day. Not wanting the food to spoil, Bulma decided to take the majority of it over to the Son's house. Besides, it'd been how long since she'd visited Goku? It would be a good time to see how much training Goku was doing and possibly how much stronger the younger Saiyan had gotten.

Her mother helped pack all the food into a capsule-able container, all the while yammering away about what a great idea it was and how that handsome young Goku would appreciate the free meal. Bulma kept her eyes from rolling at her mother's comment; instead she smiled brightly and nodded in agreement. Then of course her mother easily transitioned into the topic of Vegeta. The reason all this food was now being stored into a mini capsule fridge.

"Yes, Mother, I'm sure he's doing fine. Probably eating lots even if it isn't your cooking," Bulma sighed as she replied mindlessly to her mother's concerns. Luckily, for Bulma, the packing was almost done. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep grinning and bearing her mother's chatter.

Upon finishing stocking the fridge, Bulma encapsulated it and popped it back into its case. She gave her mother a short nod, promising the older woman that she'd relay the message of a warm greeting and something along the lines of 'hope you enjoy the food' to the Son family.

When she finally reached the Son house, though, she was only greeted by Chi-chi. It wasn't that she didn't like the woman, but that the two were very different women—their attitudes the only thing they really had in common. Bulma gave the younger woman a curt smile as she inquired about Goku and Gohan's where-abouts, and of course wasn't too surprised by the response.

"They're out with Piccolo, training," the dark-haired woman's statement came out just a bit strained with annoyance. "What brings you all the way out here?" the woman's demeanor almost instantly changing into a relaxed state.

"Oh, nothing much," Bulma started, reaching into her pocket for the capsule case. "It's just that Vegeta took off into space last week, and Mom's still been cooking up a storm."

Chi-chi took the offered case from Bulma, a small sigh passing her lips. "He took off again?" she questioned indifferently.

"Well, he didn't just steal the ship this time," Bulma huffed out, crossing her arms over her chest. "But he's been living with us for how long now?" The older woman tapped her forefinger against her bottom lip in thought. "Anyway, it's just that Mom's been so used to cooking for the Saiyan Prince that she still thinks she needs to feed a small army. So I suggested that since we wouldn't be able to eat it all before it spoiled that we could at least give you a break from cooking all the time." Bulma gave out a wide smile as her hands hooked together behind her back.

Chi-chi gave out a small snort. "If I knew where those boys were training, I'd tell you just take it to them. Nonetheless, I thank you for thinking of us and Goku's ever-empty stomach."

Bulma laughed as she watched the dark-haired woman set the case on the kitchen table. "It's no problem at all." She unclasped her hands and brought them back to her side. "But, I gotta get back to work. Dad's been busy trying to down-grade all Vegeta's equipment for human usage, which leaves me in charge of all the regular projects going on." A small sigh escaped her lips at the thought. "Tell Goku and Gohan I said 'hi'? Oh, and Mom says 'hi' and she hopes you all enjoy the food."

"Well, if you ever get a free moment, you should come over for dinner one night. Goku always makes sure to come home for at least one meal," Chi-chi offered.

"Sure, I'd love to come over once things calm down. In any case, I've got to get going, and I'll let Mom know that the food was appreciated." A bright smile graced the older woman's face before she turned to leave, Chi-chi not too far behind her.

**~S~**

Another week later, Bulma stumbled into her room and fell face first into her pillow. Her body hung half-off the bed as she stared at the bedside clock. "Only ten," she mumbled irritably. Although she couldn't blame her body since she hadn't been sleeping well, even though she'd been going to bed earlier a lot more. She had blamed it on boredom at first, but now she was suspecting something else. "Vegeta," she mumbled again, turning her face fully into the pillow.

Her mind wasn't stimulated by all these mundane tasks. She wanted to help her father with his project, but he had refused saying she needed to handle the everyday tasks since he was so busy with the side project. Bulma had snorted at that and crossed her arms. Her father was still more than capable of handling everything at once, so why couldn't she help him?

She growled into the pillow, finally pulling her lower half onto the bed. At that moment her stomach let out a whimper and she rolled her eyes. "You can shut up, too," she grumbled, not wanting to move.

A small smile pulled at her lips as she thought of the reason she had skipped dinner. If her father could have a side project, so could she! Except while her father was down-grading the Gravity Room's functions and its bots to handle human capacity, Bulma had decided to fiddle with the blueprints to see what she could do to upgrade it. She knew Vegeta was likely to be gone for at least a year, but she was hoping that he would at least return before the androids attacked. If not, it was his loss. Of course, she could always call him up on the ships phone and taunt him to no end about new equipment.

Her smile widened and she turned her head to stare at the empty side of her bed. Yes, if Vegeta wasn't back within a year she'd definitely call and annoy him. Hell, maybe she could start at it now! Her stomach let out a louder rumble. Yep, she could definitely start now. With her newly found energy, Bulma pushed herself from the bed and went downstairs.

She would call Vegeta first since she figured it wouldn't take long, and then get herself some food, and then she could finally get some sleep. Once inside the lab, Bulma sat down in front of the video phone, pressing the button that would connect with Vegeta's ship. The video feed finally connected, showing an empty training room.

Her eyes narrowed slightly before calling out, "Vegeta!" After a few seconds of no response, she let out a heavy sigh and ended the call. It wasn't worth going through the headache of coercing Vegeta out into the open and starting an argument this late in the night. She'd just have to remember to call him again when she wasn't about to collapse; and her stomach wasn't trying to eat itself.

**~S~**

Two more weeks had come and gone. Bulma had managed to get out of her slump, with the help of brainstorming on new ideas for the gravity room—a new design, better materials, more ki resistant bots. Her mind was dizzy with all the ideas that had started out as small clusters and had exploded onto paper, old blue prints, computer screens, napkins at the dinner table, the back of her hand and arm. The smile on her face had been a permanent fixture since the ideas had flown free and it carried over to her emotional state. She'd happily done the busy-body work of the company, met with some potential clients, went to boring meetings that she usually had trouble staying awake through, and all on a few hours of sleep each night because she'd push through exhaustion to perfect her ideas.

With the ideas buzzing loudly in her head she'd not heard some of her employers mention how she had a motherly glow or the glow of someone in love. If she had, she would have been happy to put them in their place by telling them that she was in love with her projects, and that she was a mother to her ideas. However, the world around her was just a screen. She had no interest in taking part in it at the moment.

Of course the Capsule Corp employees weren't the only ones that noticed the change in her mood. Her mother and father weren't as blind or distracted as she thought they were most of the time. Her mother chittered away like always, something Bulma was used to pushing aside. Her father only took an interest on just it was she was working on, and upon seeing it was more equipment for Vegeta the old man had only given her a few heavy pats on the shoulder.

On this particular day, it was early afternoon and Bulma had just finished her lunch, ready to go back to work, when she realized she hadn't heard back from Vegeta. She wondered briefly if he was still on Earth's time schedule or if he was on an alien planet's time. Maybe last time she had called he'd been out of the ship or in bed. She could try again now and hope he would answer. A hand came up to cup her chin in thought before she decided to call him again. She went to the video phone once again, connecting with Vegeta's ship and waited for the feed to come through on her end. Once again the training room was empty and for the first time in a while she frowned.

"Vegeta, if you're there answer me," she called into the speaker. She was really starting to get worried over the stupid Saiyan. She knew he was just avoiding her, but she couldn't help wonder if something had happened. "Vegeta!" she shouted this time, her voice full of anger. "Get your ass out here!" Still nothing as a palm slammed done on the edge of the console. "Arrogant little prick," she muttered a bit more loudly, hoping to catch his attention. However, after a few more moments of silence Bulma finally gave up. She leaned back in the chair with a heavy sigh. "The least he could do is call me back," she grumbled to herself as she finally pushed herself up so she could get back to work.

**~S~**

_Her body felt sore and heavy as she pushed up on one arm. She groaned, her eyes refusing to open even though she was already sitting up. Her fingers clenched and she's suddenly aware that she's not in her bed. The realization has her eyes popping open in alarm, only to find more darkness. She panics a bit, her heart beating just a bit faster as her breath catches and becomes erratic. She blinks, her fingers clawing at the solid ground beneath her. She's on concrete or some sort of hard, rocky surface. Her legs pull up as her hand pushes up, putting her in a standing position. She wobbles a bit, her balance being thrown off by the complete darkness of the world she's in. _

"_Hello?" she calls out, a little nervously. Her hands unconsciously clench and she feels her short nails dig into the skin of her hand. _

'_This has to be a dream' her mind tells her, but it has no effect. _

_She remains stuck in the darkness, but as she blinks her eyes a few times it seems as if a slant of light is trying to break through the blackness. Bulma notices there is a landscape-a city that's in ruins. The buildings are dilapidated, big chunks missing out of some of them. Some look like they have been cut in half as part of the buildings frame is now sitting on a pile of rubble. A hand rises to rest against her beating heart as her mind thinks of only one thing: Androids._

_She knows that's what it has to be. The androids have woken early and have already destroyed the world. Why is she left, though? Is it because she's a scientist? Did she just manage to get lucky? Did somebody save her from death? _

_That's when she hears it—a fight is going on off to the side. She turns, her eyes widening at the three battling bodies. "Vegeta?" she breaths the question, not sure what to think of seeing him. Her eyes scan the rest of the area, not seeing any other bodies. Was everyone already dead? "Vegeta!" she screams the name this time as she witnesses one of the gray bodies sweep a leg-like appendage at the Saiyan. _

_Vegeta easily ducks it, and she lets out a breath of relief as his fist connects with the body's stomach. The human-like body doubles over, but in a flash there is a second body behind Vegeta. She screams his name again, but it has no effect. Can they not hear her? She reaches out as the second body locks an arm around the Saiyan's neck. Her feet move quickly, her long strides turning into a sprint but she never gets any closer. _

_Her vision starts to blur as tears form in her eyes. Suddenly, Vegeta drops free of the android's hold and collapses onto his hands and knees. He's panting heavily and she tries to move forward again but it still gets her nowhere. The two androids seem to back off as if waiting for Vegeta to regain his strength, and that's exactly what they do. Once the Saiyan is back on his feet, they come at him again. This time he's blocking attacks left and right. All three bodies lift into the air as the battle intensifies and for a brief moment it looks like Vegeta might gain the upper hand. _

_Disbelief covers her face as the bodies disappear and both of Vegeta's hands rise to cover his neck. His eyes go wide as his mouth opens and closes. Bulma can't place what's happening, and she can only watch as Vegeta drops from the air and onto the concrete below. His body writhers, his feet kicking as his hands continue to clasp around his throat and his mouth gasp for breath. She realizes he's choking, but on what? And what happened to the androids' bodies? She can feel her vision blurring horribly again and her feet move again. The action still doesn't bring her any closer to the dying man. _

Her breath catches in her throat; she feels the air in her lungs expand as it has nowhere to escape. She suddenly gasps and a sob wrenches from her sore throat. Blue eyes open as her body is pushed up from the bed. Her free hand reaches up to wipe the tears from her eyes, but they won't stop. The only thing her mind can see is the image of Vegeta lying lifeless on the cracked pavement. Another sob crawls up her throat and her other hand rises to join the first. She can't control the panic and tears from breaking loose as she shakes and tries to gather her bearings.

Bulma finally manages to get her breathing under control and with it comes the damming of her tears. She gives a few more quick swipes before she lowers her hands to the bed and a heavy, shaky breath releases from her lungs. With her nerves finally calmed, she throws the covers from her body and shifts out of bed. She can feel the sweat covering her skin and she rubs her arms as she heads to the bathroom. Upon flipping the light on, her eyes squint and burn from the brightness. Her hands rise to rub them once again, her fingers pressing against her eyelids.

"Stupid," she mutters to herself as she starts the shower. "Why did I dream about that?" She feels the water to make sure it's comfortable and steps out of her bed clothes.

She lets the water soothe her tensed muscles, not too concerned with washing. All she really wants is for the stickiness of the sweat to be washed off. Besides, her mind is too busy shuffling through her dream and wondering why she'd had it, and more importantly why it had affected her so badly.

A clenched hand raised in the air at chest level. "It's been another week and Vegeta still hasn't called back!" She'd not thought anything of it until now because she'd been busy working, sleeping, and eating enough to keep her energy levels up. So her subconscious mind must've been keeping track and worrying about the things she hadn't been able to during the day. With the disturbing thoughts now erased with the anger coursing through her body, she reached behind her to turn the water off. "If he won't call me back then I'll just have to keep bugging him." She grabbed the towel from its rack and patted down her body. "He's bound to be in that training room at some point."

After drying and refreshing herself, Bulma marched to her room to get a new pair of pajamas. As she threw the tank top over her head, she turned to look at the clock—just now realizing that she hadn't been worried about the time. She glared at the red numbers. If she hadn't managed to catch Vegeta during the early evening or afternoon hours, perhaps she'd get a hold of him during the early, early hours of morning.

"If he's not up at 3am, he's at least gotta be sleeping," she muttered before storming from her room.


End file.
